


You Don't Always have to be so Strong

by JustALilBookworm



Category: Archie Comics, Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medieval, Arranged Marriage, Betty Cooper & Toni Topaz Friendship, Betty Cooper Loves Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper Needs a Hug, Cheating, Chuck Clayton Being an Asshole, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Smut, Jughead Jones Loves Betty Cooper, Multi, Protective Betty Cooper, Protective Jughead Jones, Sexual Abuse, Tags May Change, Veronica Lodge is a Good Friend, sort of slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:28:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 31,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28059186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustALilBookworm/pseuds/JustALilBookworm
Summary: At 17 - Betty is married to a French Duke, who is cruel in every possible way to her.At 18 - Betty goes to King Louis XIV's court with her husband, where she meets the charming (yet scandalous) Polish Prince, Forsythe.She can't love him, she isn't free to. At least that's what she tells herself.But when it comes to matters of the heart, we can't always choose.And in the process, manages to tear down all of societies rules restricting her from loving him, and him from loving her
Relationships: Alice Cooper/Hal Cooper, Archie Andrews/Veronica Lodge, Betty Cooper & Chuck Clayton, Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones, Cheryl Blossom/Toni Topaz, Jason Blossom/Polly Cooper
Comments: 23
Kudos: 51





	1. God Save the Prom Queen

**Author's Note:**

> "Prom Queen" - Molly Kate Kestner
> 
> **Trigger Warning - domestic abuse and marital rape***  
> If you want to skip through it I will mark where it begins and ends = !!!  
> There will be brief mentions it of throughout the fic but no other graphic descriptions

If you were to ask Betty when she was young what she wanted to do with her life, she would weave magnificent tails of how she would be a great adventurer for France and discover new lands.

But that’s not at all how everything played out in the end.

Betty’s family was titled and ruled over large stretch of land in France, her father was Harold Cooper the Duke of Sully and her mother the Duchess. Unlike many of the other girls she knew, Betty did not care for lavish parties, fancy clothes, jewelry, nor was she particularly religious. She was bookish and out-doorsy, causing her a gentle tan her mother constantly pointed out to her, telling her no respectable young lady of station had such proclivities.

Her father adored his daughters and always promised that they may marry for love when they reached marrying age. Her mother on the other hand was relentless in her search for proper suitors for her daughters, as their brother was already married to a very wealthy generals’ daughter. She would always introduce her daughters to what she deemed amiable, respectful, good men in an attempt to have one of those men, no matter how old or young, propose an offer of marriage to one of them.

Polly (as she was fondly called) got lucky in her marriage. She had just turned 18 when she met and subsequently corresponded and fell in love with the young Duke of Châteauroux, Jason Blossom. They had married after knowing and writing one another for 4 months. As Polly told Betty during one of their late-night heart to hearts by candlelight, Jason had stolen her heart from the day they first met at a mutual friend’s dinner party. After that, Jason had written to her with such ferocity she could hardly write him back in time to receive her next letter or him in person. Each note filled with both ideas for a shared future and sweet words of love and devotion. Evidently, their passion for one another had not been hyperbole, as Polly happily shared the news of her pregnancy 3 months after her marriage.

Betty was still 16 when her sister got married, and then the full force of her mother’s determination fell squarely on her. She presented Betty to anybody who was anybody in King Louis’ court, and that went on for some many months. At 17, Betty returned home from a walk in the nearby woods with her best friend and lady in waiting, Antionette Topaz, and was shocked to find her mother in the parlor where she always entertained guests speaking with the Duke of Thouars, Charles (Chuck) Clayton.

“Oh Elizabeth, I was just about to send for you. Come here and sit”, her mother called to her after seeing her in the doorway.

Betty did as she said, Toni staying right by her side. Both girls unsure how this situation could play out.

“My dear Duke of Thouars, this is my youngest daughter Elizabeth”

“Good day, my lord”, Betty curtsied and offered her hand to him.

He took it, bowed, and kissed it lightly, “A pleasure Miss Elizabeth”

Betty spent her entire afternoon making unwanted small talk with a man she did not know at all, and yet did not care for due to his presence and general energy he presented. When he finally did leave, Alice had invited him to dine with the family the next evening, much to Betty’s distain. She detested when her mother would almost literally throw marriageable men at her, and in many cases throw her at said marriageable men. She wanted more than anything to choose her own husband and by deduction her own life, but no - not in Alice Cooper’s world.

Three weeks go by from their first meeting, to the ball where Chuck asked her father for Betty’s hand. Of course, that meant nothing as her mother had swiftly accepted his offer to her before Betty ever had a chance to tell him that she could not marry him as she felt nothing for him, and that she was sorry.

A month later, Betty wasn’t yet 18 and married to a man she did not love. This was something she never, ever, wanted to happen. She had screamed at her mother until her throat hurt that she could not and would not marry the Duke of Thouars, but her mother did not listen and instead went about planning her daughter’s wedding day. Betty cried the entire time Toni was helping her with her dress and hair on the morning of.

They were married in Betty’s family home, as it was large and grand. High ceilings, lovely hard wood floors, fine and expensive paintings adorned the walls, and on a clear day the sunshine hit the main room just beautifully.

Her father could see just how miserable his daughter was, and quietly hoped she wouldn’t say “I do”, but there was nothing he could do. His wife had been planning this wedding for weeks and he had raised several protests already in Betty’s favor, but every time his words fell on deaf ears.

The celebration lasted for many hours, but Betty could not enjoy a moment of it as she was filled with sadness and dread. Sadness as she hadn’t been able to find a way out of this marriage, or reason with her mother enough to let her make her own choices. And dread of her new life, and the consummation of her marriage. She believed it was important to enjoy such activities, but how she could enjoy being touched places she did not want to be touched by someone who should not be touching her in the first place. She cried – again – all the way through to the next morning. But silently, and to herself.

**!!!**

When he first came into the bed chamber, she was sitting quietly in the chair beside her window with her feet tucked beneath her, hoping he would understand that she did not want this. Maybe they could make some sort of arrangement between them and only be married in name. It was obvious he only wanted her dowry as it is, not her. But he had expected her to completely submit to him.

“Please, Charles, I just don’t want to do this. It’s nothing to do with you I swear, it’s me who isn’t ready for this”, she told him.

Her dressing gown was wrapped closely around her, feeling as though it would protect her from her new husband and an act she had no desire to partake in.

At least not with him.

“Now, Elizabeth” he said slowly, making his way from the door to her chair just as slowly, she thought it was menacing, “I am your husband. You are my wife. As such, it is my prerogative to lay with my wife at my discretion. You belong to me now, wife, we are bound in front of god.”

“Pray be frank with me, Charles” she insisted. Growing tired of his falsities and pretense. She looked coldly into his eyes as he stood before her.

“Very well then, Elizabeth” he grabbed her arms and pulled her to her feet brusquely “We. Are. Married. You must give yourself to me because that is what all good Christian wives do.”

He turned her and walked her backwards towards the bed, his cruel eyes never leaving hers. He pulled her dressing gown off her shoulder and arms, tossing it to the ground with one hand, the other holding both her wrists, lest she try to slap him and run away.

“Charles, stop! Let go of me!” she demanded, jerking her arms to try and release his hold on her. He pushed her onto the bed when the back of her legs hit the side, she fell with a gasp and all of a sudden, she couldn’t speak. The terror of this man was too great that her usually sharp mind went blank.

He stood above her as he pulled his shirt off, letting it drop to the ground as he forced her knees apart and pined her arms on either side of her head. She wriggled beneath him in a desperate attempt to get away from him, making helpless little sobs as she did. After a moment, the hopelessness of her situation got to her and she stopped, quietly sobbing as her awful husband leaned down and stroked her cheek.

“Hush now, wife” he kissed her - hard.

But not in a way that passionate young lovers might.

He kissed her neck, her chest, and her breasts after he had seen fit to deprive her of her shift, and therefore her last sense of safety. She knew full well he could have his way with her while she was wearing it.

Somehow, they had ended up beneath the blankets, and him without his trousers and underthings. Betty didn’t know how, all she could do was stare at her window as he thrust up into her, quickly and roughly. His hips crashing into hers at terrible pace.

It hurt.

In every way it hurt.

It hurt that she had been forced into a vulgar act with a man she hated.

It hurt the way he was thrusting into her. So fast and choppy, she thought for sure apart of her had torn because of it.

It hurt that she’d have to live with this memory for all of her days.

So she cried. The tears falling down her cheeks and onto her bed. From both the physical and emotional pain she’d endure that night.

And unfortunately, for however long both of them lived.

Every time she wasn’t able to keep him away from her.

 _God, if you’re listening, please take either him or me. I can’t live this way_ , she prayed later that night after he’d taken her against her protests - twice.

**!!!**

***

Some 8 months had passed since Betty married Duke Clayton.

She was miserable.

Now living at her husband’s estate, all Betty found herself able to do was mind the servants and household affairs. That was it.

No walking outdoors.

No riding horses.

Reading in the library was pushing it.

According to her husband, all those activities were unsuitable for a lady of rank and virtue, meant for some peasant woman to do, not her. And he enforced these rules as far he could.

Betty would rather be a peasant. If she’d the means to, she’d run away from Chuck and live happily all on her own. The only problem was she knew no one and had nowhere to go, her family certainly wouldn’t take her in. This type of life pained her to no end.

It wasn’t all bad of course. She still had Toni with her (at her own insistence), she was able to take the carriage to the nearby village whenever she wanted, she could manage to sneak into the stables every once and while and take a ride on one of her horses, reading in the beautiful library at her new home was all she wanted to do on rainy days, and she managed to walk and run outside whenever her husband wasn’t there to punish her.

The punishments varied based on whatever it was she had done. Sometimes he would just lock her in her rooms until morning, for more severe offences he would slap her across the face, the worst of all was when he forced himself upon her. In cases where she’d done something so horrible to his manly ego and he was so furious that he really wanted to hurt her. Maybe it was fun for him, hearing her pained cries and pleas until he was through with her, she wouldn’t know, the last time he did it she blacked out. That was when she told him she wouldn’t give him any children because she wouldn’t let them suffer under him.

She didn’t want any child of hers to be raised in a home that was cold, brutal, and unfeeling. It was a hard choice to make, she wanted to be a mother, but what kind of mother would bring a child into a place where they’ll get hurt? No, she just couldn’t do it.

She trusted the servants to never tell him of her secret outings and activities. She was kind and gracious to them, and everyone in that house had their secrets from the duke. They all naturally relied on one another to keep them.

The day Betty found out her and her husband would be going to French court was quite normal, nothing out of the ordinary had happened to the make the day memorable. Earlier that morning, Chuck had left to meet with a potential buyer for some of the produce and wood his lands had provided that spring.

It was a rainy afternoon in late April, and Betty was relaxing on the comfortable sofa in the library she had claimed as her own with a book. Chuck came home earlier than she expected, and he quickly burst through the library door.

“Charles? I wasn’t expecting you home so early” she said, resting her book on her leg. Both of which were stretched out to the side on the couch.

“That damn Poitier, boy. He thought he could sucker me into lowering the price we’d settled on weeks ago in our correspondence, Elizabeth” he fumed at her.

Betty wasn’t really interested; she didn’t have to worry about her husband’s finances. Right after she married him, she spoke with her father, his lawyer, and his banker, to ensure that her dowry and inheritance would belong solely to her and she could use it whenever she chose and for anything she liked. Only, her husband thought it all went to his accounts, she tricked him to believe as much.

“I didn’t know, Charles. What are you going to do, find another buyer, or give in to the boy’s offer?” she tried to sound like a concerned wife should.

“No. No. I will not be cheated out of what I am owed. I won’t sell to him” he paced the hard wood floor in front of her as he spoke out loud, not really to her.

“Then who will you sell to?” she asked after moment of watching him pace.

“I have heard from the king’s steward. He told me that the king is interested in purchasing my lumber. I will go to court and sell my lumber to the king and while I’m there I will find a buyer for the rest of our crop” he sounded so sure of himself it was sickening.

“Just as well I suppose. Well…”

“And naturally - as my wife - you will accompany me to court” he interrupted

Chuck knew how Betty despised the idea of court; the big fancy dresses, styled hair, people gossiping like they had nothing better to do, and of course King Louis’ need to sleep with every girl he walked past.

No. Betty did not care for court life. And she had explained all this to him in length the last time the topic came up.

“Charles, no. Absolutely not. Under no circumstances will I step foot in that palace” she protested, not caring what her punishment would be for such insurrection.

“Enough, Elizabeth. It is decided. I will write to the king’s steward, and we will leave for court on Friday” he left the room, leaving Betty seething in anger and nothing to do about it.

***

There were four things Betty learned very quickly when she first arrived at court.

  1. Parties were a regular occurrence, and everyone was expected to attend
  2. At these parties and after enough wine had been passed around, most women would tell you all their secrets, even if you didn’t ask
  3. At least 90% of these women had between 1 and 4 lovers - simultaneously
  4. It was important to make friends so the days would pass with some form of entertainment



Here’s something you might not know: Betty had considered what it would be like to find love outside her marriage since the word “go”.

She knew her husband frequented a brothel and frankly she didn’t care. It kept him away from her. But she was certain her husband would kill her if he found her with another man. And even if she managed to live, she’d either be in a worse situation than she was now in her marriage or she’d be publicly disgraced for her affair. Classic misogynistic and pointless rules. Men are free to do what they want with whomever they want, women are bound by their marriage vows and Christian law.

The risk was far too great.

They had been at French Court for about three weeks now, and Betty has managed to evade her punishments for slightly over a month. On this particular night, Betty, Chuck, and Toni were all at a beginning of summer outdoor dinner the king had ordered. She was with Toni and new friend of hers, Veronica Lodge.

She had come from Spain with her French husband – a wealthy trader by the name of Archibald Andrews. The story was that Archie was working on a deal for the King with her father when the two had met. They had fallen so deeply in love and married within a month. They returned to France together and now her husband was back at court with not only the goods he acquired, but a Spanish noble woman for a wife.

It was evident just how deeply the two loved each other, from the comforting tones and gentle touches, to the warm smiles and loving looks.

How Betty envied them. If only she could feel a love like that.

The center of tonight’s gossip was the recent arrival of an envoy from Poland. This was highly unusual, as the cold eastern country had chosen to remain closed to the likes of far western countries. Not so much anymore it would seem

“I can’t fathom why they’d come here when the Poles have never expressed an interest in dealing with the West” Toni said lowly to the small circle the girls had made.

“You don’t suppose there’ll be any trouble, do you?” Betty asked

“Oh, no, amour. There’s nothing to worry about. Archie told me they’re here to discuss the possible benefits of a peace agreement, to ensure we don’t ally ourselves with the Ottomans should war come. They’ve been to Italy, Sweden, Hungary, and the Holy Roman Empire so far, and after they leave here, they’ll go to Scotland, Spain, Portugal, and England” Veronica reassured her, placing a hand on her arm.

“Are they looking for a long-term alliance, do you know?” Toni remarked, watching the small group of Poles (who were relatively far off) walk gingerly towards them.

“No, apparently not. They just want it in writing that France will not ally with the Ottomans should they ask for an alliance. You know how much the Poles and Ottomans detest one another”

The group neared, and all three women could see them enough to make out their features. Dark hair, round faces, and piercing eyes on most of them. They were also all relatively tall compared to some of the French aristocrats.

“That very tall gentleman is an officer in the Polish military” Veronica pointed out

“And the man with the quizzical brow?” Betty asked, looking at the young man in the middle of the group. He couldn’t be much older than her, but he had such a cynical expression on his face.

“That happens to be the King’s son, Forsythe” Veronica noticed the strange look on her friends face when she looked at the prince, as though she was weighing an evaluating everything he did for merit. She made a note for her and Toni to talk to her about later, as she had doubtless seen it as well.

But Toni decided for the time being, it was best to keep her friend’s attention on her and Veronica, so she won’t have to deal with any unwanted gossip. “Why in the world would King John send his own son on such a trip, I wonder”

Betty turned back to her friends, glad that no one else had noticed her bold staring at the Polish prince, even himself as he didn’t even see her. “Goodwill, I suppose. And to properly convey the importance of the matter”

“Perhaps” Veronica said, a shade to smug. Meaning she knew something the girls didn’t.

“Alright, missy, what do you know?” Betty demanded

“Well - and you didn’t hear this from me - but it seems that the prince has a bit if a reputation back in Poland, on two different accounts” she whispered triumphantly

“What kind of reputation?” Betty asked

“They say he’s a bit of a womanizer and has a violent streak. So that means…”

“His father sent him to keep him out of trouble” Toni interjected, giggling quietly as she spoke.

Betty smiled and sighed, “How is it you know so much?” she said

“I have ears everywhere, mi querida. If you bothered to listen to what people were talking about around you, you’d know just as much as me. Or rather, almost as much” the girl answered, smiling broadly at her friend.

All three girls broke into giggles.

Betty turned her head to look around the gardens everyone was in once she had calmed down from the giggling, only to meet the eyes of none other than Forsythe as he was passing by with his group.

She stared into his eyes.

They were the most beautiful eyes she’d ever seen, a pale blue color.

And he had the most luscious dark curls, she couldn’t help but wonder if they felt as soft as they looked.

He had stopped walking as well, letting the others pass him as he gazed at her, his previously cold expression softening. He smirked, which turned out to be the exact wrong thing to do.

Her cheeks grew hot and all of a sudden, she was aware of what she was doing.

She blinked and quickly turned her face away from him and stared at the grass, a dark shade of green as the only light came from the torches set up all around the garden since the sun set. Luckily, it was May, making the air warm enough to not need her shawl.

She heard his footsteps as he walked away.

It was bad enough that he caught her staring at him, but she would not be made a fool of, she had enough problems as it is.

And she most certainly would not be another one of his mistresses.

She decided - right then and there - that she would give Prince Forsythe a wide berth.


	2. Raging on a Sunday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We learn about Jughead, why he came to French Court, and what it was like for him seeing Betty for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Important* After some reading, I changed Poland's adversary from Russia to the Ottoman Empire, as that's who John III fought the most during his reign. I'm very sorry for not being prepared enough when I started this story, and it won't happen again. Also, thanks to some friendly advice, I added a trigger warning to the previous chapter and will do the same to any other chapter that needs one.
> 
> "Raging on a Sunday" - Bohnes

He hated his name.

Even if it was his family name, he still hated it.

Forsythe Pendleton Jones III.

Before his father was ordained as Poland’s King John III, he was Forsythe II.

That – of course – making his grandfather Forsythe I.

It was why he had chosen to go by the nickname his parents gave him when he was young, Jughead. Maybe it was worse, but he liked it a hell of a lot more than Forsythe.

Let’s be clear: Jughead may be a prince, but he would never be a king.

Not because he wasn’t in line for the throne, it’s just that Poland elected their kings instead of placing a singular family in charge of the whole shebang. He liked this system, the idea of him being king should terrify everyone – including himself. Luckily, it would never happen, he had no plans to even consider the off chance that he maybe someday could possibly try to be king.

Not happening.

Never happening.

Not in this life or the next.

All this meant that his father didn’t have to teach his children how to rule their kingdom, and they could therefore do whatever it is they wanted to do – most of the time anyway. When they weren’t entertaining foreign dignitaries, traveling across their realm, or being ushered away into hiding during one the many conflicts his father involved Poland in. Most of which were with the Ottoman Empire.

Needless to say, Jughead had known how to fight from a young age.

It wasn’t a very happy childhood Jughead had either. He was constantly being overlooked by his parents, who were too busy dealing with matters of state than giving their children attention. He grew to have deep hatred towards many-many people and countries and he also saw the deaths of quite of few of his siblings while they were still young. Carrying all that anger, rage, and sense of abandonment isn’t good for any child.

The rage he could let out by fighting.

He was involved in a lot of those. Hence how he got his reputation for fighting.

And the abandonment was something he could forget by finding solace in a lover’s arms. It was quite easy for him to charm court women as he was rather good looking.

Thus, his reputation as a Casanova came into the question.

It turns out, having a pain addicted flirt as a prince was not something that people were particularly thrilled about. His father, mother, and siblings all tried to get him to change multiple times, but none of them even tried to look beneath the surface and find out what was really going on with him. No one saw it.

Sure they were looking at him, but none of them were really seeing him.

He came to the conclusion that nobody ever would. And if they did, they would have to be an angel and not a mortal being.

When he wasn’t filling the empty void of his heart, there were things he liked to do that people should consider more “princely” of him.

Reading, writing, riding, making the occasional wood carving, even dancing around with his younger sister (although he’d never admit to that).

He had friends: Sweet Pea (family name redacted), Fangs Fogarty, Joaquin DeSantos, and Kevin Keller. All five boys had grown up together, running around the castle and playing games together where they would be brave knights off to battle.

Sweet Pea had been disconnected from his family for a very long time now; both parties involved refused to admit the others existence. The king pitied the boy and offered him a chance to train and be given a place in the military, he jumped at the opportunity. He did not speak of his family, and it was in your best interest not ask.

Fangs was a cousin on Jughead’s mothers’ side of the family. Both of his parents contracted an infection when he was very young and passed away after weeks of suffering. His grandparents took him in, and since his grandfather was an influential councilor to the king, naturally he grew up in court.

Joaquin was the son of a szlachta, and every time his family was at court – which was quite often indeed – he would join in the boys playing. That only started when Fangs noticed little Juaquin sitting alone in the courtyard looking rather sad and invited him to come and play ball with him, Sweet Pea, Kevin, and Jughead. They were only 9 at the time.

Last but most certainly not least, Kevin. He was the son of a soldier that fought alongside Jughead’s father before he was king and still just a Polish nobleman. After King John was crowned, he offered Kevin’s father a job as one of his personal guards, and he heartily agreed. As a result, Kevin and Jughead had been running around the castle together their entire lives, even before they knew Sweet Pea and before Fangs and Joaquin arrived.

***

Jughead jumped down the last two steps of the staircase as he hurried to his father’s study.

He was late.

Granted, he was always late, but today he was extra late.

 _I’m never going to hear the end of this_ , he thought as he ran down the corridor to the king’s study.

He stopped in front of the large wooden doors and took a breath and fixed his jacket. The guards opened the door and let him pass through into the room. He wasn’t particularly fond of this room as every time he entered it, he was getting chastised for his behavior not 10 minutes later.

It was a large room with stone walls, dark wood floors and a bear skin rug in front of the fireplace, where two chairs were positioned atop it. On the other side of the room sat his father’s desk – wide and made of oak wood – and his leather upholstered chair. There were no windows in this room, instead having to be lit by candles and candelabras. In its place, tapestries, bookshelves, and sconces lined the walls of the dark room.

He saw his father standing in front of one of his bookshelves and turned towards him.

“You asked for me?” he asked.

“I did, half an hour ago” his father said sharply, turning to him and throwing him a look of displeasure.

“I’m sorry, father, I-”

But his father stopped him, “Forsythe, I don’t want to hear another one of your excuses”

“Well then why don’t you get your scolding out of the way so I can go” he answered.

“I didn’t call you here to scold you” the old man sighed.

“Really? Well, that’s a first” Jughead said in mock surprise.

“Son, please, enough with your attitude. I asked you here because there’s something I need you to do for me”

“Should I be concerned?” Jughead asked cautiously. He wasn’t entirely certain where this conversation was going but he didn’t like the sound of it.

“No, not at all. There’s just something I need you to understand” his father walked forward and stood in front of Jughead, placing his hand on his shoulder.

“What is it then?” he asked, still a little anxious about the way this was going.

“Come with me” his father said, leading him over to his desk where a large map was laid out.

Jughead stood on one side of the desk while his father went to the other. He saw red markers all over the place, meant to represent where Poland’s troops were. And then just beneath Poland – near Krakow – he saw silver markers, no doubt meant to represent the Ottomans.

“According to my intelligence, the Ottomans have been increasing their troop numbers along the border of their lands, and much too close to ours and the Hungarians for anybody’s liking. I fear we may be going to battle against them once again” the king explained somberly.

“Are you asking me to take on military campaign?” Jughead asked, trying not to get his hopes up.

“As good a leader as you would be, and will be when your chance on the battlefield comes, I have something else in mind”

“What then, shall I go east to Tsar Peter and form an alliance against Sultan Suleiman?” Jughead asked, looking up from the map to face his father.

“No, we already have a very capable ambassador in Russia. And Tsar Peter finds the Ottomans movements to be just as distasteful as I” he replied

“Hungary then?”

“I need you go to the far west and secure agreements from the western powers that they will not ally with the Ottomans in an attempt to seize land in the east”

Jughead said nothing, he was too shocked by his father’s request. He knew his thoughts on the peacocks in the west. How they were too busy either having expensive and unnecessary parties or fighting with each other over claims to power and land to do anything for their people. He thought they were far too selfish and greedy to see past their nose, not to mention the ways the damned French king wronged his father the last time they fought with the Ottomans.

“Where exactly in the west are you sending me” Jughead asked lowly, although he suspected the answer already.

“France” Jughead groaned and stepped away from the table towards the door “Spain, Portugal, England, and Scotland” his father raised his voice the further away Jughead went.

“For Christ’s sake, boy. This is about more than you” he shouted.

“I will not beg that pompous fool for anything” Jughead shot back “send James far west, but I will go no further than Prussia”

“We are not asking for an alliance” the king tried to reason with his son “merely their word they will not take up arms against us in an alliance with the Ottomans”

“How can you ask this of me after everything they did to us, to you, the lawful King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania, and my father” Jughead demanded.

"Because they’re a strong military power and we cannot fight on two fronts at the same time, it would destroy us and there would be no Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Our lands would be Ottoman and French territory” his father said in a muted but forceful tone.

Jughead marched towards the desk and placed his hands – palms down – on the wood, “Then send James, he’s the natural politician”

“James is leaving tomorrow for Hungary, Sweden, the Holy Roman Empire, and Italy. To ensure alliances and peace agreements there”

“Mother then” Jughead threw his hands into the air.

“You know full well that King Louis and King Peter will not meet with a woman over matters of state and King Charles doesn’t even know the days of the week and relies on his council to do everything for him, do you think the Spanish Lords will listen to a woman? Or the English Parliament, for that matter? The Scots?” his father rebuked.

No, none of them would listen to a woman. Even if she was a French born woman and she traveled back to France less than ten years ago. In all honesty, Jughead and his mother were frequently disagreeing on virtually everything. She never lost her French alliances and never really paid much attention to her children; she was always so focused on herself.

Of course, this also meant his sister wouldn’t be taken seriously in any court, as she was young, unmarried, and a girl. It pained him to see his extremely bright sister shoved aside like she had no worth, but he was also glad she wasn’t going anywhere without one of her brothers to protect her from getting taken advantage of and potentially hurt. She was only 15.

“Son, this isn’t the time to be thinking of yourself and your own prejudices, we must think of Poland and her needs. Believe me, I didn’t want to send you that far west either, but the fact is I have no other option. You won't even be gone a year” his father said sympathetically, placing his hand on Jugheads back as he came to stand next to him.

Jughead looked at his father and nodded.

***

By weeks end, Jughead, his friends, and a handful of guards were all on a boat headed for what they all considered to be an Earthly version of hell.

They only sailed for about a week, and when they landed in France there was a small group of French soldiers waiting for them with one of their generals. They spotted the group while they were still on the boat, waiting for the dinghies to be dropped into the water so they may get to land.

Sweet Pea was standing just behind Jughead, both boys had eyes on the company, “what a welcome party, eh?” he joked.

Jughead and Sweet Pea chuckled as they continued to watch the French, “dupki” Sweet Pea muttered, making Jug laugh even harder.

When they finally made it to shore, Jughead noticed as they walked across the beach towards the general and his men that they were all uniform, while he and his men were only wearing their shirts, pants, boots, and their swords. With the exception of those who chose to wear their hunting jackets. They all had longer and messier hair than the Frenchmen, were a bit dirtier from the voyage, taller, and stronger as well.

“Welcome to France, gentlemen” the general said formally, looking at them as though they were not worth the dirt on his shoes.

“Thank You, sir. It is an honor to be welcomed to your country so warmly” Jughead said, his men behind him sniggering at his words, which were dripping in irony.

“You’ll have to excuse our dress, we were not aware we should be expecting a costume party” he mocked, throwing a devilish grin at the general, who scowled at him in return while Jughead’s men laughed heartily.

They were put on horses and a cart was supplied to carry their trunks, and the entire group of men, French and Polish alike, set off for the French Court of Louis XIV.

They rode for two days, staying in a tavern in a town they passed through in between to rest for the night.

They arrived in the middle of the afternoon on the second day. Jughead didn’t want to stand around and enjoy the scenery, he wanted to be rid of this god-forsaken country as soon as he could. While servants attended to their baggage, Jughead and his men walked straight into the palace. He wanted to secure an audience with the king as soon as possible, that way he could leave for Spain and never return to France.

A footman came rushing up to the party as they strode through the halls, “Prince Forsythe, on behalf of King Louis and all of France, welcome to- “

“Are you here to tell me when your king will see me?” Jughead interrupted the man.

The footman gulped and was obviously not only intimidated by the fact that Jughead was a good foot taller than him, but nervous that he would not be pleased with what he had to say.

“Regrettably, sir, King Louis cannot meet with you until next week” he said timidly.

“Next week?” Jughead roared, and clapped his hands on the servant’s shoulders, keeping a firm grip on them “Then why did I come all the way here, hmm? No, you will go and tell your master he will see me tomorrow morning”

Jughead pushed the small man to the floor, he quickly got to his feet and shuffled away. The group of Poles watched him disappear down a hallway.

“We’re gonna have to wait, aren’t we?” Fangs asked, standing next to Jughead.

“Yeah, I think we will” Jughead said

“We’re not getting out of here by the end of the week, are we?” Fangs sighed

“Nope”

The group followed a servant to their rooms where their trunks were already waiting.

***

_Ma Cher Prince de Polgne,_

_I regret that our summit must be moved to a later date than I previously discussed with your father through our communications. Some pressing matters have reared their ugly head and I must attend to them as soon as possible. Therefore, I must insist our meeting take place at a later date, which we will discuss when I return to court as I am traveling the day after next._

_I apologize and ask your forgiveness,_

_Le Roi._

Jughead was sitting in his dimly lit room in French Court reading and re-reading the note a maid had brought him from King Louis. Every time he read it, it only made him more and more angry.

He crumpled piece of parchment, stood up from his chair, and threw the note into the fireplace. As it burned, he swore he could hear the mocking laughter of the “Sun King” when he heard that someone as lowly as Jughead – a Pole – had wanted to meet with him immediately. The audacity of the Slavic Prince; how dare he want to protect his country, people, and family.

He really hated the French

Possibly even more so than he hated the Ottomans, and if Poland were to ever fight a war against France, Jughead vowed he would be on the front lines faster than you could say “wieszać na kimś psy”.

There was a knock on his door.

“Yes?” he called

Kevin appeared as the door opened, then Joaquin was behind him. They walked in and the doors shut behind them.

“Have you heard from the king?” Kevin asked as he and Joaquin walked towards Jug.

“Oh yes, my dear Kevin. I have heard from our most esteemed host” Jughead snarled

“What happened? What did he say to make you so angry?” Joaquin questioned

“He told me that he had more important things to do than deal with me. Apparently, he’s leaving court on Wednesday, lord knows when he’ll be back. And we’re to sit and wait for him to return until we can talk about when we will have our negotiations”

Kevin sighed heavily and rolled his eyes, “Doesn’t that man realize we don’t have that kind of time” he said moodily

“Even if he does, our time doesn’t matter to him. Jug let’s just leave this hell hole in the morning and go to Spain. At least we’ll be treated with some manner of respect there. Hang the French and their King” Joaquin insisted

There was truly nothing more that Jughead wanted, but he had to be Prince Forsythe of Poland for the next few weeks and months, and not Jughead. He had to think and act as a Prince and storming out of French Court now would only embarrass himself and his country as everyone would think they were acting juvenile. It also wasn’t lost on him that Louis was deliberately trying to get a rise out of him, to make sure the peace agreement between Poland and France was kinder to France than Poland. No doubt he had heard of Jug’s temper.

Rest assured, Jughead would die before he willingly handed an opponent the upper hand.

“We can’t leave, Quin. We have to play King Louis’ game – at least for now” he told his friends, his back was tuned to them and he was staring into the flames of his fireplace, “We have to play, and we have to win”

_***_

They were left to play the waiting game.

It had already grown tiresome by the second day they were there.

For the most part, the French aristocrats stayed out of their way, possibly because they thought the Polish envoy was dangerous. They did look like a threatening bunch.

It’s also reasonable to assume that it’s because they presented such a condescending and troublesome energy, the women of the court were drawn to them. Jughead noticed them staring at him, and while he didn’t want to be used as a distraction from their boring lives, he didn’t mind stringing them along a little and giving them a wink as he passed them by.

Hey, he had to find some type of entertainment while he was stuck in France.

***

He was in the palace library when Fangs found him.

“I thought I’d find you in here” he joked as he drew closer to his friend.

“What do you want, Fangsy” Jughead asked, not looking away from the bookshelf he had been going through.

“Oh nothing. I just thought you would want to know that King Louis is throwing a Beginning of Summer party this evening in the gardens”

This caught Jug’s attention, and he turned his head to look at his friend.

“Is that so?” he asked

“mhmm, what do you think, shall we go?” Fangs asked with a smile on his face and an eyebrow raised questioningly.

A wicked smile grew on Jughead’s face as he looked down towards the floor in thought, “well it would be rude not to”

They all attended the party that night, staying together in their small clump, not physically separated from the French but hyper-aware that they were not wanted at their festivities by the looks they were getting. Not that it mattered. They didn’t care

They walked through the garden and Jughead couldn’t help but feel disgusted by how much money the French aristocrats were throwing away with these parties. There were mountains of food, women dressed in fine (useless) dresses of every color, lots of powdered wigs, endless amounts of wine and champagne.

 _Do they even care about their people at all?_ he wondered as they walked, a scowl fixed on his face.

It was all too much for him, he knew there were French citizens starving in their villages all throughout the country, but no one here seemed to care about anything besides themselves.

Once again, the eyes of the ladies of court were on him. They all wanted his attention, but he wanted nothing to do with them now, they were boring. They were all the same to him, no discernible personalities, nothing to do but stand about, gossip, and yell at their servants for doing something or another wrong.

He didn’t so much as look at any one of them, but kept his gaze locked on what was in front of him. He wasn’t exactly sure where they were going, but he kept walking anyway, quietly hoping the opportunity to humiliate someone would come along. Then at least he could have some fun.

He was going around a fountain when something in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He stopped walking.

A girl in a light pink dress was sitting on the edge of the fountain with her friends.

She turned her head towards him.

All at once he could hardly breath.

Her honey-colored locks were left free just below her shoulders, not covered by a wig or pulled back.

The short sleeves of her dress showed her lightly tanned skin.

She had the most magnificent shade of green in her eyes.

A look of wonder and curiosity was on her face.

He smiled at her, and much too quickly she looked away from him. But not before he could see her cheeks go red.

He thought she was adorable when she was flustered.

 _Look back,_ _anioł,_ he beckoned her with his thoughts. But she didn’t, she stared at the ground in front of her.

He stood in place for another moment examining her when he noticed the ring on her left hand.

His rapidly beating heart stopped.

She was married.

He decided to do the gentlemanly thing and walk away from her, but a thousand questions kept racing around in his head.

Who was she?

Was she happy?

Did her husband love her? Did she love him?

What was it about her gaze that made him feel so seen?

Why did he feel this way about her?

Why was he even still thinking about her?

“Jug?” Sweet Pea said as he neared his friends again.

“What?” he asked

“What’s up with you, you spaced out there. Something to do with the girl you were gawking at?” Sweet Pea teased

“Shut up, Pea” Jug laughed “I don’t even know her name”

“Her name Elizabeth Clayton, Duchess of Thouars” Kevin chimed in

“How in the world do you know that?” Joaquin asked shocked

“I talked to her earlier this morning after breakfast, she was sitting outside on a bench reading Aphra Behn and we started talking about her work. She’s really nice, smart too” Kevin explained

 _Elizabeth_ , he thought, liking the way it sounded.

The conversation soon changed topics as Jug and his friends kept walking, but his mind was still on Elizabeth. He resolved to find her the next day and talk to her. He decided this out of a desperation to know her, to argue with her, to laugh with her, to hold her, to love her, to kiss her. He felt a binding feeling to her he never had with any woman before, and he couldn’t explain it for the life of him.

It didn’t matter how, he needed to be close to her.

* * *

szlachta - rich and privileged Polish nobleman

dupki - assholes

wieszać na kimś psy - Polish expression meaning to hang dogs on someone

anioł - angel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew! What a complicated political situation we have here. I thought things were messy now, try living in the 17th century huh?
> 
> Like many stories, Jughead fell instantly in love with Betty (he just doesn't know it yet), but Betty is a little more cautious and there is nothing wrong with that. Considering the time period and her circumstances she's perfectly within her rights to take her time figuring out what she wants, and she will - I promise you.
> 
> If anybody wants to know more about the kings/queens/situations I mentioned here or you know a little but just want to know more, please do let me know and I will be more than happy to tell you a bit about whatever it is. Give a history nerd a chance to shine here.
> 
> I'll do my absolute best to have the next chapter out in the next week or so, but I make no promises.
> 
> Lots of love and hugs to everyone. Happy Holidays, and I'm sorry again for the curve ball.


	3. Lonely Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jug and Betty's friendship begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Lonely Together" - Avicii (feat. Rita Ora)

Betty tried to focus on what her friends were talking about, she really did, but her mind was too muddled. It was the strangest thing, she never experienced anything like this before, especially not with someone she only knew by name and saw in passing a total of one time.

She excused herself from her friends for the night, thinking it would be best if she just went to bed. Everything would look better in the morning. She probably just had too much to drink, yeah that was it. The alcohol is what was making her heart pound in her chest and preventing her from thinking clearly.

***

Wait.

What was he doing?

He couldn’t possibly be fawning over a married French duchess.

But here he was, completely infatuated with her and unable to get her off his mind. He needed to go back to his chambers and think, where it would quiet.

“You all enjoy the party, I’m going to bed” he told his friends, walking away before any of them could respond

***

Betty walked through the gardens on the path she walked with her friends earlier that evening, all she had to do was avoid her husband until she got to the door of the palace she left from.

That was easier than she expected, he was drunk as a skunk and talking with a group of people loudly about god knows what, he was slurring his words pretty bad.

He didn’t see her even though she was almost directly in his line of sight.

 _Typical_ , she thought in disgust when she saw him throw his head back laughing and spill his drink all over himself.

Lucid, that would make him furious and he’d throw a fit. Drunk however, it only made him laugh even harder.

She climbed the handful of steps there were on the path towards the palace and headed for the door. She didn’t stop to admire any of the flowers or decorations like she normally would’ve – tonight all she wanted to do was sleep.

Once inside, she found the staircase that would take her to the floor her room was on and went up.

***

He was on the other side of the palace from his room, but it didn’t really matter to him, he knew what floor he was on and where his room was, he’d be fine.

He climbed a staircase and walked through what felt like an endless labyrinth of hallways until he finally turned into the right one.

It was then he saw her.

Coming the opposite way.

Oh god.

***

She stopped in her tracks.

He was here.

And if he was here that meant their rooms were in the same part of the castle.

Great job Elizabeth, so much for keeping away from him.

***

For about a minute they just stood there.

Some 9ft apart.

Staring at each other uncomfortably.

Neither knew what to say or do. Neither of them has been in this kind of situation before; in a hallway alone with someone you haven’t even talked to yet, but they affect you in a way your brain can’t comprehend. Or maybe it can and you just choose to ignore both your heart and your mind believing they’re both wrong. There’s no possible way something can be there.

Love at first sight is something that only happens in fairytales, right?

“Miss Elizabeth” Jughead said as he bowed respectfully

“Prince Forsythe” she curtsied

There was another moment of awkward silence.

“Quite the party tonight” he said uncertainly

Betty let out a shaky, hesitant, laugh, “yes, it is”

“Pardon me, but- “ she began

“How do I know who you are?” he asked, taking a few steps toward her

“Yes” she nodded, a slight grin on her face

“You met a friend of mine this morning after breakfast, he told me about you. He said you two discussed the works of Aphra Behn, and while I enjoy her books, I very much prefer Henry Neville myself” he explained, retuning the grin

“Kevin is a friend of yours?” she said, a little shocked

Kevin was so kind to her, and really enjoyed her thoughts of an author they both relished. He was open and receptive to her ideas and seemed like a generally warm soul, who she now called her friend. Not at all what she imagined a Pole to be like. Further, he didn’t seem like the type of person who’d enjoy being around Prince Forsythe – from what she knew about him of course from one day together talking.

He laughed, “yes, indeed he is Miss Elizabeth, we grew up together”

“oh” she said “well, Prince Forsythe-“

“Jughead, please. All my friends me Jughead” he said gently

“Is that what we are now? Friends?” she teased, a smirk on her face and an eyebrow raised, closing the gap between them so they were just inches from each other.

She had to remind herself not to reach out and rest her hands on his chest. Opting instead to keep her arms behind her back and clasp her hands.

He had to seriously fight to not place his hands on her hips and draw her close. He did the same thing she did with her hands; kept them behind his back so he wouldn’t do anything stupid.

He smiled even wider “I hope so, are we?

“We’ve only met for the first time tonight, unless you count staring at me in the garden a meeting” she giggled

“First of all, Elizabeth, I do count that as a meeting, secondly, that’s the point of being friends, you learn about each other as you go, and third, you spent an afternoon with Kevin and now consider him your friend, don’t you?” he said

Betty thought for a moment. She didn’t have many friends; it would be nice to have someone to talk to about things that she really enjoyed.

As much as she loved Toni and Veronica, they just weren’t the type of people who shared her love of reading. Toni was more a physical type of person, preferring to be outside and doing things like archery, and Veronica was more of a socialite, when she wasn’t sewing clothes (for both herself and her friends). Kevin was like that too, with a particular interest in gossip as well.

And then there was Jughead.

She didn’t have the words or the knowledge about him to properly describe him. All she knew was court gossip, and yet when he was standing before her, asking her permission to be her friend, and seeming genuinely interested in what she had to say, she couldn’t find a reason to say no.

Of course, this could all be an elaborate plot to get her into bed and leave unscathed while she was scorned and ruined all because he was bored. But for her own peace of mind, she couldn’t bring herself to think about the reason he wanted to be her friend right now.

She chose to accept his friendship, despite it being against her better instinct.

“Very well then Jughead - we’re friends, and you must call me Eliza” she said sweetly

“Eliza?” he asked playfully, raising an eyebrow

“It’s what everybody calls me” she shrugged, smiling

“Well then, I shall call you Betty” he said warmly, smiling at her

“Betty?” she asked mischievously

“So that I may separate myself from everyone else in your life, mój skarb”

“What was that you said?” she asked, a curious smile on her lips

Oh, how he would love to bite down on that lip.

No. Get it together Jughead. She’s a married woman, and a French woman at that.

He mentally slapped his arm to keep himself in check.

You cannot have her in any way that would harm her or her reputation.

You cannot fall in love with a French woman, they are the sworn enemy of yourself and your country.

Rationally, he knew all this…but he just couldn’t stop himself.

He needed to get to his room before he got too ahead of himself.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” he teased “Goodnight, Betty”

He reached to take her hand, and she gave it. He bowed and kissed it.

“Goodnight Jughead” she said

They both left for their bedchambers.

***

What was going on with him?

One minute he’s desperately trying to keep himself under control.

The next he’s giving her a name only he’s allowed to call her.

He was pacing the floor in front of the bed in his room. Trying to make sense of everything that was going on with him.

He knew he hated the French, and he knew most French people hated him and his Poland. And if that was the case, why was it impossible for him to feel the same resentment towards her?

He dropped onto the bed with his legs dangling over the side and covered his eyes with his hands, letting out a heavy sigh.

He was in this deep now and the way he saw it, there were three ways this could go:

  1. She ends up being just like every other French woman and is only stringing him along for fun
  2. They end being pretty compatible friends for a while and that’s it
  3. His incomprehensible need to be with her takes them from being friends to lovers



For the longest time whenever he thought of French people all that stirred up in him was rage and a passion to release Thunderdome style post-apocalyptic mayhem upon everyone in this palace.

But with Betty, things were different.

He saw her as a good and pure thing within a world of evil. Something that should be protected, nurtured, and loved.

It wasn’t the fact he saw her this way that made him frustrated, it was the why.

As has been previously established.

This meant he was either very wrong or right about his assessment of French people. And he wasn’t ready to admit to either yet, he was so unsure of himself it was maddening.

The sooner he worked this out, the better off he would be.

***

She walked into her room with a smile on her face and her cheeks blushing, twisting her hands together.

 _Betty_ , she thought, remembering the way he looked at her when he gave the name to her. The smile on his face, the soft tone of his voice when he spoke to her.

 _What on earth are you doing Elizabeth_ , she shook her head, making the thoughts of Jughead disappear from her mind.

She was a married woman, and she couldn’t afford any gossip to befall her. Most likely it would be her end.

All the same, was it so wrong to have a male-friend?

Surely Charles couldn’t punish her if she wasn’t doing anything wrong.

But what if all Jughead wanted was another mistress to distract himself? It would ruin her.

 _Does he really want to be my friend, how could he? What does he see in someone like me? I’m hardly anybody special_ , she thought, the smile on her face now long gone.

Her previous bashfulness and joy turning to pain and sadness.

How could she be sure he wasn’t just going to use her and leave her? She supposed all she could do was trust that there was still some good in this world. She hadn’t believed as such for months now, but where she was now – with new friends that really cared – had managed to partially reassert her faith in everything decent. And all within a manner of weeks.

She took off her dress, laid it over the back of the chair at her dressing table, and crawled into bed, wanting nothing else but to sleep.

***

He was dreaming of her now.

After one conversation.

She was in a flowy white dress on a lakeside, a smile on her face, the sun on her skin, her eyes were closed, her face turned towards the warmth of the sun. She spun around in circles with her arms outstretched to either side, giggles escaped her lips.

He bolted upright in his bed. Breathing hard like he just had a nightmare.

“What the hell is wrong with me?” he whispered

He climbed out of bed and went to the balcony off his room.

He needed some air.

***

Betty didn’t sleep well that night.

In her dream, she was lost in a dark forest; alone and afraid. When suddenly a raven with bright blue eyes swooped down from a tree. It led her through the blackness until she saw a light through the trees. She walked towards the light with the raven, but before she could see what was there, her eyes shot open and she found herself unable to sleep the rest of the night, tossing and turning in her sheets as the sun rose in the sky.

***

Jughead and Fangs strode through the halls of the palace, it was relatively early in the morning. The sun was up, but the world was not yet fully awake.

They stopped at a window overlooking the front of the palace where servants were quickly preparing a glamorous carriage for King Louis’ departure. Jughead stared at the carriage in disgust. It was solid gold almost everywhere, with an elaborate design of the French royal family crest on the door.

He clenched his fists and watched angrily as a stool was placed at the open door to the carriage, and the last of the baggage was secured. The king exited the castle, climbed into the gold carriage, the footman took their places, and away the coach went.

Jughead was suspicious of that man and everything he did. Which is why he began to carefully plan out his next moves.

“I want you to follow him, but keep your distance. Under no circumstances should he know you’re there. Once you see where he went and for what purpose, get back here as quickly as you can. I want to know what was more important than us” he told Fangs

“Gladly” Fangs replied, walking away back down the hallway.

Fangs was he best tracker Jughead had ever known, he would not fail. Whenever they would hunt together or got lost when they were children, Fangs was always the one who knew where to go.

He stood there in thought for another moment, watching the carriage roll down the rode in front of the palace, before turning and heading the opposite way as fangs down the quartz floored corridor.

There was a certain blonde he was hoping to catch today.

***

Betty was in the flower garden alone.

She’d taken breakfast in her chambers, after the night she had she needed to be alone.

The memory of that dream wouldn’t leave her.

She knew it was an elliptical reference to her life and Jughead.

She knew that right now she really was in that dark wood.

She was by the fountain again; it had become somewhat hers over the weeks she’d been here at court. She liked to dip her fingers into the calm water and watch it ripple and splash depending on how quickly she moved her hand. Something about it was oddly gratifying. It was a good place to sit and gather her thoughts together as well.

She didn’t really believe that dreams were prophetic, that was too farfetched for her to trust. So this wasn’t some “god is sending me a sign” type thinking session, more of a “where do I go from here” type process.

Jughead was her friend now, but friends don’t have these types of dreams about each other. They don’t feel the way she does when they are near.

The question had to be asked, was friendship all he wanted with her? Or did he feel the same way?

“Betty” a voice called from an unmistakable person.

There he was, walking towards her with a warm smile on his face. She returned it when she saw him.

“Jughead, how are you?” she asked

“Better now that I’m with you”

 _Dial it back Jughead, you don’t want to scare her away_ , he thought

He hadn’t been this forward with her before.

But instead of being taken aback or slapping him and leaving, she just smiled even wider, tucked a hair behind her ear, and blushed.

“That’s sweet of you, Juggie, but I don’t think you should be talking like that to a married woman. There are gossips everywhere, you know” she playfully scolded, only slightly embarrassed at the nickname she’d just given him.

“I’m sorry, Betts. You’re right, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable” he said, blushing slightly in embarrassment.

“oh no no no, Jug, no. You didn’t make me uncomfortable at all, I was only teasing” she said, placing her hand on his arm and giving it a comforting squeeze before removing it. They walked together past the fountain and into the elaborate gardens.

He smiled at her warmly, “Oh good, I was worried you were going to tell me to take a hike”

She laughed, “I could, but I think I like having you around”

“But we barely know each other, Betts. I could be dangerous” he said intently, his eyebrows raising in mock warning

“Would you ever hurt me, Juggie?” she asked

“No, Betts. I could never hurt you” he said immediately, and urgently

He said that too fast, he knew that. But it was also the truth.

He wasn’t a liar, he never cared for lies and demanded the truth from all those closest to him if they wanted to receive it in turn.

Above all, he never planned on lying to her.

Her emerald eyes and innocent demeanor pressed him even more fervently to be completely honest whenever he spoke to her.

Even if they were still getting acquainted.

They walked side by side through patches of grass trimmed to resemble swirls, and he noticed a sad and disgusted look on her face.

“What’s on your mind Betty?” he asked, again nervous she would send him away, but trying not to show it. He wasn’t accustomed to being vulnerable in front of others and he wasn’t about to start now, even with her. Not yet.

“Look around Jug” she stopped walking and spread her arms to either side “this is what’s wrong. This entire palace, it’s just too wasteful of French resources and money. We already have so many fine castles, why couldn’t the king be appeased with those? There are real people who need help in this country”

She dared not express her opinions in the company of other Frenchmen, they would dismiss it and tell her she shouldn’t get so worked up. But Jughead was not a Frenchmen, he was Pole. The French and the Poles had a – uh – colorful history to put it delicately, she knew he would understand. And he wouldn’t be shocked by the fact that she had a mind of her own, and pretty sharp one at that.

She felt like they had known each other for a lifetime, not two days.

It was inexplicable.

He sighed and looked round sadly. He understood perfectly, she knew it.

He nodded “I know Betts, but the King is too powerful. He can do whatever he wants and nobody’s going to stop him”

“Couldn’t you do something? You’re here to negotiate a peace agreement, isn’t there something you could take away from him?” she suggested

“Not without giving up something Poland can’t afford to lose” he said, his eyes looking downward.

***

Their walk wasn’t all discussion of politics of course, they formally got to know each other, discussed books, and debated artists and poets. 

“My mother was born to a Dutch count actually, I’m not all French. And my father is part Spanish on his mothers’ side of the family” she told him as the strolled around a pond.

“My mother is French” he sounded a little sad “we don’t get along very well”

“I know how that is, I don’t get along with my mother very well either” she said, holding onto his forearm hoping it gave him a little comfort – it did for her.

They walked in silence for a few minutes taking in the nature that surrounded them.

***

Before they knew it, the sun was beginning to set.

They had spent the entire day outside together, talking, arguing, and laughing.

Not that either of them would complain about that.

“I think we should get back now, Betts” Jughead called to her

She was still high up in the tree she been climbing.

“Aww, Jug, come on. We’ve only been out here for a few minutes” she pouted

He laughed “Betty, it’s been five hours. Come on, we’ll be late for the dinner the Duchess of Anjou is throwing”

“So what?” she demanded like a child

“Betty” he said sternly but softly

“Oh all right I’m coming” she began to climb down

She eased herself down the rough tree bark, taking it branch by branch when suddenly her hand slipped, and she couldn’t grab anything to hold onto in time. She fell to the ground.

Jughead moved to catch her, but when he did, they both fell to the ground.

He fell on back and his arms were wrapped around her. Her hands were planted on either side of his head. His hands twitched with the need to reach up and run his hands through her blonde locks.

In truth, it wasn’t the fall that had him in shock, it was the fact that she was currently in his arms, and they fit so well against each other.

She could feel his breath against her face, and if she moved her hands just slightly, she’d be touching his dark curls. She felt his hands on her sides and saw how wide his eyes were in surprise. If she didn’t know better, she’d kiss him, and it wouldn’t matter who saw.

After a moment of just staring at each other (they had developed a habit of that) they laughed at the ridiculousness of it all.

“Are you alright?” he asked after he caught his breath

“I think so, what about you?” she asked, moving to sit on her knees.

She wasn’t oblivious to the fact that when she sat this way, she was straddling him. But she pushed the thought from her mind, not wanting to think about it

He sat up as well, “Oh, I might’ve cracked a rib or two”

“I’m sorry, Jug. I didn’t mean for that to happen” she said sincerely

“It’s okay, Betty. You were falling and I wanted to help you. That’s what friends do for each other” he rubbed his hand up and down her side in a calming way. She trembled for a moment when he did, her protective walls that she built up were threatening to collapse.

He did want to save her – if she’d gotten hurt and it had been his fault, he wouldn’t know what to do with himself. Now though, with her in his lap and his hand touching her, he had to really fight to keep himself under control.

***

They walked back to the castle together and promised they would talk more during the entertainments that evening. They were both grateful no one had seen them in the woods, otherwise she’d be accused of adultery and everything would get very bad very quickly, and there wouldn’t be anything he could do except deny the rumors for her sake. But would anybody listen to him, not likely with everything considered.

They parted at the top of the staircase that led to their rooms, and as he walked Jughead replayed the entire day he spent with Betty in his mind.

How thoughtful and generous she was, but also exceptionally witty and exceedingly intelligent. He was glad he found someone who could match his interests on literature and things, but also disagree enough to have a spirited debate on the subject.

How the sunshine made her hair appear even more golden than it already was.

The way it felt to have her thighs against him.

How her breath went uneven when he touched her side.

She was slowly becoming his only weakness. His soft underbelly.

He didn’t think he’d survive if anything were to happen to her. It’s why he had to be so careful with what he said and how he acted around her.

How quickly things had changed in the short time he’s been here.

He came here believing that all Frenchmen were the devils spawn and he wanted nothing so badly as he wanted to leave.

But now, if it meant she was here, he couldn’t bear to leave. He saw the goodness in her heart today. A kind of goodness he hadn’t seen in anyone before, including his friends. A kind of goodness he didn’t believe existed in this country or possibly anywhere.

But it was in her.

And it was rooted very deeply in her heart.

He valued her more than any other person in his life.

He went to his chambers sound in the knowledge that maybe – just maybe – not all French people were wicked at their cores.

***

It had been the most wonderful day Betty had in a long time. She hadn’t had so much fun since she was girl, something about him made her feel so…free.

The way he held her earlier had made her heart pound in her chest.

The way he listened to her when she spoke, and if he didn’t agree he politely offered his opinions instead of telling her she was flat out wrong.

He made an effort for her before, and nowadays that was a rare thing indeed.

She loved her other friends, but she just couldn’t relate to them on the level she related to Jughead. Don’t misunderstand, there’s nothing wrong with that, they were still there for her when she needed them, but they didn’t always understand.

Of course, nobody would ever really understand since her darkest and most painful secret was one she had to bear, not something she could get away from or confide in someone with.

She wasn’t quite sure where this was going yet and she knew he’d leave eventually, but she hoped that they would continue to talk once he did.

She walked into her chambers and she saw her husband standing at the wooden desk. His arms were behind his back and he wore a pair of his finest clothes and a stern expression.

 _And this was turning out to be such a nice day_ , she thought as she walked through the room to her dressing table. She took care to remain vigilant, just in case.

“What do you want, Charles” she asked indifferently, taking her hair out of the bun she had put it up in that morning.

“Oh, nothing, Elizabeth. Nothing at all” he said

“I have asked you time and time again to be frank with me Charles” she spat

She stood up and pulled off the large, white, long-sleeve shirt she had been wearing that day with a dark purple skirt. The sleeves were rolled up on the shirt, of course, as it was the middle of Spring. Leaving her in just her skirt, corset, and other underclothes.

Changing in front of her husband wasn’t anything new to Betty, whenever they had an important event to attend, he always watched her dress to make sure she kept up the look of a perfect nobleman’s wife. Yes, in the beginning it was a little odd and humiliating, but she had grown out of those feelings sometime ago.

Now all she was focused on was surviving.

“Then tell me who your new friend is, the Pole” he questioned

“Kevin?” she asked while pushing down her purple skirt

“Is that who you were with all day?” he raised an eyebrow

Her back was turned to him as she folded up her clothes, and she was glad it was so he couldn’t see her expression. She was terrified and her heart was going a million miles a minute.

“No” she said hesitantly “Kevin wasn’t with me today, he’s been busy catching up on court gossip”

“Then were you or were you not in the woods with that damn polak prince all day” he raised his voice

She turned around to face him quickly, she was startled by his tone. He strode closer to her and placed his hands on her arms. If it were done by somebody you cared for than it would be endearing, but by him it was menacing.

“I saw you Elizabeth. I saw you and Prince Forsythe walking through the gardens together and into the woods. I can only imagine what that boy did with my wife there” he laughed coldly

“Charles, no. We did nothing but talk. We’re only friends, I swear” she insisted

“For your sake I hope that’s true and remains true. Because there are some new things I’ve been wanting to try with my wife” he ran two fingers down her face and left the room.

When the door shut, Betty began to hyperventilate.

She was startled again when the doors reopened slightly and Chuck peeked in.

“You know Elizabeth, I was thinking about it and it might be best to simply abandon that book you were telling me about. There’s no need to put yourself through that if you don’t enjoy it” he played the part of the concerned husband wonderfully well, she hated him for it.

To appease him, she simply put on a calm face and nodded, even though there was no one watching them right now he still wanted to keep up performances.

Once he left – for good this time – her legs buckled beneath her and she dropped to her knees on the animal skin rug in the middle of the room. She brought her knees to her chest; it was something she did when she felt like things were getting out of control. It helped her feel more stable where she was. A comforting mechanism.

Now, Chuck may have spoken metaphorically, but to Betty the message was crystal clear.

She was forbidden to be friends with Jughead.

* * *

mój skarb - my gem

damn polak (po-lack) - derogative name used for Poles by non-Poles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, I learned something about myself while I was writing this: I am not good at slow burn. Not ideal considering what I have in mind for the next couple chapters, but we're gonna roll with it. I feel like I'm making them move to fast, correct me if I'm wrong.
> 
> But more importantly, buckle you're seatbelts you guys, things are gonna get a bit bumpy up in here pretty soon.
> 
> Just prepare yourselves...mentally.


	4. Hate Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Revelations come to light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Hate Me" - Nico Collins

In case you haven’t noticed, Betty was incredibly afraid of her husband.

She had grown to fear the punishments he doled out to her whenever she overstepped the boundaries he placed or got too big for her boots, so to speak. It was why she worked so hard to play his obedient little wife.

A role that 5 years ago she never would’ve been content to play.

It was mentioned before that she was focused on surviving, and that was true.

Or rather…mostly.

See, the definition of “survive” is “continue to live or exist in spite of hardships”.

Her marriage was the hardship she had to live through despite everything, and she was determined to outlive and outsmart Chuck if it took everything she had.

She would not let him win.

He would not break her, no matter how many times he tried.

It was a challenge, but she was playing the long game. Lying in wait for the opportune moment to pounce and that took careful planning.

She had been collecting information on him since they were betrothed. Asking around about him as inconspicuously as possible, looking through records about his family in books her father had “forgotten” to put away, things like that. Somehow, she knew that it would come down to either her life or his, the former was clearly much better for everyone.

He had numerous skeletons in his closet, let’s just leave it at that for now.

For the present time however, it was important for her to make it seem like she was hopeless and out of ideas. The last thing she wanted was for him to catch onto to what she’d been doing for over a year now. She wasn’t ready to bring him down just yet.

Like she said, she was terrified of him.

The game required casualties from time to time; once it almost cost her Toni, but Betty would never permit that to happen. She and Toni had been best friends since they were children, Betty couldn’t lose her. Now, it would cost her Jughead.

She didn’t want to stop being his friend, he was very dear to her and she loved hi-…his company. Definitely just his company. Only that nothing more.

But anyway, she didn’t have a choice but to leave him, it was for his protection as well. Chuck had many connections to many unsavory types of people who could do horrible things to Jughead, and Kevin for that matter. And it would all be to teach her a lesson, a particular favorite pass time of his.

This wasn’t her being selfish or thinking she was too good for him; this was her trying to save him from a horrible fate that Chuck could easily ensure.

She just wished she could tell him that.

***

There was a knock at Betty’s door, and a kind voice rang through.

“Eliza, it’s me and Veronica. Can we come in?” Toni called.

She was so glad to hear her friends and not her husband, “yes”

 ~~Betty was still trying to get dressed for the dinner tonight~~. She hadn’t even started to get ready for the dinner tonight.

After everything that happened with Chuck, she’d been all out of sorts and couldn’t seem to get herself to move from where she curled up after he left.

Her friends walked in the room, already dressed for the evening’s entertainments. They looked around the room briefly before finally seeing her on the rug. They rushed to her side.

Toni knew the cause of Betty’s clear distress, but Veronica didn’t. Betty never told her.

“Oh, Liz. It happened again didn’t it?” Toni asked, the concern was clear in her voice.

Betty nodded as new tears formed in her eyes, Veronica stopped rubbing her friends back and looked at the two girls, “What happened again?”

Toni looked at Veronica, and then Betty; it was her truth to tell, and only if she wanted to.

“My husband, Veronica” she sobbed “He…he hurts me, in so many ways”

Veronica was speechless, trying to wrap her mind around what she just heard.

And then all that remained was the anger. She was angry at Chuck for hurting her best friend. She was angry at herself for not seeing it sooner and trying to help Betty. Immediately, she thought of a dozen ways to get rid of Chuck permanently. She wanted him to feel all the pain he made Betty feel, for almost a year.

She should’ve noticed, looking back there were so many times she should’ve stepped in and done something, but she didn’t. That hurt more than anything, the fact that someone was hurting her friend and she did nothing.

She wrapped Betty into a hug, they were both crying, “I’m so sorry, I should’ve been there for you, I should’ve done something”

“It’s okay, Veronica, you didn’t know. I didn’t want to tell you. Toni only knows because she’s been there from the beginning and saw everything” Betty said, Toni put her arms around the girls, tears stinging her eyes as well.

After a moment they eased from each other’s arms “This is my burden to bear; I didn’t want you either of you to get hurt because of me. That’s why I begged Toni not to do anything when she found out, and now I must ask you the same”

Veronica nodded, “I’ll do this for you, Eliza, but so help me if I see him leave a mark on you, I will personally ensure he burns in the heat of a thousand suns. And I mean that literally”

Betty laughed and wiped away the last of her tears from her eyes, “Deal”

She was glad to have friends like these two girls – who would do anything for her, and she’d do anything for them.

They all stood up from the rug they were sitting on and Betty went to her wardrobe to get the dress she was going to wear to the dinner party. It was a light magenta color, with white cuffs that poked out the long sleeves just enough to not be annoying while she was eating, and a purple sash that wrapped around her waist and was fastened with a bow. The neckline was high enough so she wasn’t uncomfortable all night, but not so high that she’d feel too stuffy.

She opted for her trusty pair of boots instead of the terribly uncomfortable heels and stockings every other woman would be wearing that night. It was a small sign of defiance to Betty, to prove that she was still her no matter what Chuck did. Besides, she hated those horrible satin heels anyway. And she wasn’t complaining about not having to wear a guarder.

Veronica helped her with tying her dress since her hands were still shaking and it was in the back, and Toni helped pull her hair into a ponytail. Betty didn’t like to have her hair compiled high on her head with feathers, pasted jewels, and powder; nor did she like to wear wigs or hats. A bun was as far as she was willing to go.

She did use a little powder to cover up how red her face was from crying (something she’d done far too often). But other than that, she didn’t wear much makeup.

After a small spritz of perfume, she took her friends hands and gave them a small squeeze of gratitude – for comforting her and for helping her dress. Then they all linked arms and walked out of Betty’s chambers.

She knew who would be there, and she knew she was probably going to hurt him, but she had no other option but continue to play her husband’s game. Promising herself it wouldn’t last much longer. How many times has she told herself that?

***

The banquet hall where the Duchess of Anjou was hosting her dinner was huge and decorated from top to bottom.

Every table had fine dark blue tablecloths edged with gold, expensive looking silverware and glasses were neatly arranged, not to mention the porcelain dinner plates. Now, in the rest of the room there were ribbons wrapped around the columns that stood at the entry way and flower arrangements in vases that could be hung on the walls. Every detail was carefully thought out, every possible mishap calculated for.

Jughead had no idea how a duchess managed to throw together this big to-do, parties like this weren’t thrown as much in Poland and if they were, they were thrown by either a monarch or very powerful szlachta. That said – he had to give her credit, she certainly gave her best effort with this party; everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves and there was no shortage of food to go around.

Dinner hadn’t been served yet and everyone was simply standing around with their wine glasses full making small talk or dancing to the music that was being played. This was another thing Jughead wasn’t aware of, in France everyone showed up late – it was to be expected – but in Poland, everyone was on time for the court festivities and Jughead was the only one late

He only ever bothered to show up when there was food. That was half the reason he was here tonight.

Sweet Pea and Joaquin were standing by the wall nearest to where they’d be seated, and Kevin was talking with some new acquaintance he made that day – Veronica Lodge, or something like that.

Jug wasn’t deaf, he liked to think he was up to date on his court gossip – as much as he wanted to be anyway. That was how he knew Veronica Lodges and Antionette Topaz were the two people Betty was around the most. I.E, it would be in his best interest to get close to them and tolerate them if he wanted his relationship with Betty to go any further.

He stopped a servant carrying a tray with glasses of wine and he took two. He walked over to a short young woman with dark hair wearing a dark green gown and stood next to her. She didn’t look at him and he didn’t look at her, they were watching the people dancing in the middle of the room. He offered her one of the wine glasses without even saying anything and she took it.

“Mademoiselle Topaz” he finally said in greeting.

“Prince Forsythe” she replied.

He was looking at the blonde Venus across the room from him. She was standing with a small group of people and next to who he assumed was her husband. Jugheads attention turned to him. He was tall strong looking gentleman, dressed in a fine black coat with gold and silver buttons and designs all over it. He was smiling, and Jug could admit the man was relatively handsome.

Toni knew the Prince was watching Betty and her husband, that could be dangerous for her friend. The last thing Toni ever wanted to do was give that horrible man a reason to hurt Betty. She needed to get the Princes attention focused elsewhere.

“How are you liking it here in France Prince Forsythe?” she asked.

“It is…not what I expected” Jug said.

Toni was looking at him now, she had a tight smile on her face and nodded after he gave his answer.

“What was it you were expecting?”

“Oh, a bunch of aristocrats who spend their days yelling at their servants, attending too many lavish parties, and drinking as much as they want, not giving a damn about their citizens” he joked, turning his head to look at her

“And that is different from what you got?”

“In some ways” he was looking at Betty again.

“I think you were expecting people who were free with their affections as well, weren’t you?” Toni questioned.

“Is the expression of romantic love so horrible that it cannot be decently honored?” Jughead challenged, he was now fully focused the short firecracker on his left.

“You tell me” Toni replied.

“I believe love, especially romantic love, is something to be cherished and celebrated. It is different than a passing infatuation and if properly nurtured can last a lifetime”

“Ah, that is where you are wrong, Prince Forsythe”

“Jughead”

“Fine, Jughead. For you, love is but a word you throw around and not have to worry about what will happen tomorrow. It’s a sweet sounding nothing that won’t come back to bite you unless it’s a scorned lover, but even that you could easily take care of. For women like myself, it’s a luxury few of us are awarded. We are thrown into terrible marriages for other people’s gain, if we’re lucky maybe we meet someone who can take our minds off our problems for a brief but beautiful moment.

“But that is a dangerous thing, and many of us are too afraid to even try and find comfort and what you call love. So don’t you see, romantic love is an unreachable dream; in fact, I would argue to its existence” Toni said, trying to off handedly convince him to leave Betty alone.

“You don’t believe in the presence of romantic love?” Jughead asked.

“I believe in tender regard, not romantic love” she answered.

“But isn’t love what makes life worth living? If you can’t share your heart with another person then how can you expect the same in return”

“Spoken like a true dreamer” Toni smiled, her respect for him grew a bit.

“No, I am not a dreamer. In Poland, many people think I’m too logical and forthright for my own good. But somehow, despite all the problems in the world, I find it impossible to not believe and honor the expression of true love” he said.

“And all your mistresses in the past? Did you love them?” Toni pressed.

Jughead chuckled, “I’ll have you know I haven’t been with as many women as people think I have. There were only two girls back in Poland”

“Just two? I heard there were many more than that” Toni sounded genuinely shocked.

“Lots of what people think about me isn’t true, Mademoiselle” he answered, looking at Betty again. She was still standing there with the group of people she’d been with since he arrived, and she was looking rather bored with whatever they were talking about.

He moved to walk towards her and steal her away, but Toni grabbed his arm before he even took one step, “Don’t”

He didn’t understand why she was holding him back, all he wanted was to talk to her, “Don’t what?”

“I hoped my little speech would convince you to leave her alone for her sake, and I was trying to be discreet rather than say it out loud, but now I have no choice” Toni sighed, “You must leave her alone, you don’t know the full extent of her position and I will not let you take my friend on a path that could get her hurt or worse”

“No, Antionette, no. It isn’t like that. We’re friends that’s all” he said.

Toni looked at him sadly, “You are cruel. You know the danger this could put her in and still you don’t care? A real friend wouldn’t do that”

“What danger is she in from being friends with me?” he demanded in a hushed tone.

“If rumors start about you two, you know what happens to her”

“I would never let anything happen to her”

“Then walk away from this friendship before things get out of hand. I saw how you looked at her the other night in the garden, I know you two spent the entire day outside together, I know you gave her a nickname. That’s enough for the gossips in court to say you’ve taken a married French duchess as your mistress. That wouldn’t just harm her reputation, it could do more damage than you know” Toni professed in a forceful whisper.

“Then tell me, what harm is she in?” he begged, he wanted to know who would hurt Betty over rumors about their relationship. He wanted to know so he could protect her.

Toni shook her head, “It is not my truth to tell, but I think if you look closely, you’ll see it”

She looked past him at Betty and her husband, and he followed her eyes, there were things Jug was seeing now that he didn’t see before. He saw how Betty’s smile didn’t reach her eyes; he saw maliciousness in her husband’s eyes. It was then all the pieces fit in his mind, he just needed true conformation: Charles Clayton Duke of Thouars was not a good man.

“Please, let her go. She’ll be safer that way” Toni pleaded in a small voice before she walked away from him and joined Veronica and her husband Archie.

***

Dinner was served, but Jughead couldn’t focus on the conversation at the table. All he could think about was Betty and her husband. Normally all he’d see is the food, but it was like he couldn’t even taste it tonight.

After the plates and platters were cleared and the tablecloths were drawn, everyone went back to dancing and talking and drinking. This time though, the conversations were louder and much more animated as everyone was at least tipsy. Everyone – that is – except Jughead.

He needed to remain as sober as he possibly could if he was going to really get a feel for what kind of man Betty married. Luckily, he wouldn’t have to wait very long for his chance.

He was standing in the back of the room; his eyes were on Betty – as they have been most of the night. He couldn’t help it – ever since Toni told him he could be the cause of her suffering, he felt like he needed to make sure she was safe. Chuck bumped into him as he walked behind them, he didn’t even apologize.

“Excuse me” Jughead mumbled sarcastically.

Chuck stopped walking and turned to face him, “What was that?”

“I said excuse me, surely you were taught to have common manners as a child. And since you didn’t display such a skill, I thought I’d do it for you”

“Who are you to speak that way to me?” Chuck demanded, puffing out his chest, “Don’t you know who I am?”

“I am Książę Forsythe Pendleton Jones Sobieski III of Poland, and you are a mere French duke. Charles of Thouars, correct?” Jughead said

He enjoyed watching the shock on the duke’s face when he realized who he was addressing, but then he saw his face twist into anger.

“So you’re the damn Polak that’s having an affair with my wife” Chuck spat drunkenly. Jug could see how bloodshot his eyes were from the alcohol and was fairly certain the man wouldn’t remember any of this tomorrow, or that he knew what he was saying now. Then again, he’d been itching for a fight ever since he got here, why turn down this golden opportunity? I mean – the idiot called him a Polak, that’s just as bad as comparing him to an Italian; he also insulted Betty’s honor. Directly in front of him. He deserved a good ass whooping.

“What did you say to me?” he said darkly.

Chuck had a smug smile on his face, “Oh, I think you heard me”

“Why don’t you come over here and say it to my face. Like a man”

The people in the room had stopped their chatter and were watching the going on with fearful looks on their faces. Sweet Pea, Kevin, and Joaquin had made their way to Jug’s side, all three men wore the same spiteful expression at the use of that term Jug did.

Chuck laughed, “Your little Polak possy is here to save you, Princy”

Jughead cracked his knuckles and grit his teeth, “Stop. Saying. That. Word”

“Or else, what?” Chuck challenged, stepping closer to the group.

“Why don’t you call us Polaks one more time and find out. Or better yet, why don’t you insult your own wife again and see if you can stand up tomorrow”

“Enough. Stop this” a voice called from the crowd.

Betty pushed her way though the crowd of French aristocrats and stood before the men with her hands on her hips and an indignant expression on her face.

“This had gone far enough” she declared, “Would you please take the duke to his chambers”

The servant she had been referring to nodded and went to the duke, took his arm, and put it around his shoulders to guide him out of the room.

“She won’t save you next time, Princy” Chuck said as the servant began to walk him away.

Jughead didn’t say anything, he just stood and watched the pathetic man be dragged away with an enraged expression on his face. He watched until Chuck was no longer in view and turned to face Betty. When he met her eyes, sadness and shame filled his. She sighed, shook her head, and walked back to her friends.

“I think we’ve overstayed our welcome at this party” Jug told his friends.

They all left the room.

***

Betty was relieved her husband couldn’t remember anything the morning after the party. She was also relieved he had a monster of a hangover and wasn’t leaving his chambers because he felt so ill. That meant she could spend the day as she wanted and didn’t have to worry about being dragged around to different aristocrats’ social occasions.

Truthfully, she didn’t know why she and Chuck were still at court, he closed the sale for the wood weeks ago. Maybe he just grew to like court life, her opinion hadn’t changed at all. Even though she did meet some great people.

She was standing on the balcony off her chamber looking out over the land in the pale morning light. She couldn’t stop thinking about how her husband antagonized Jughead the night before. The horrible things he called him. Everyone who had two braincells to put together knew that you must never call a Pole a Polak; and yet Chuck saw fit to do exactly that in front of a crowd.

But she also thought of the way Jug looked when he was preparing to fight Chuck. How there was no light in his eyes, they looked so blank but so concentrated. She didn’t know if she’d be able to get through to him, and it was lucky she did. That look scared her though, did he always get that way when he was angry?

 _Maybe I’ll just go to the library_ , she thought. She walked back into her room, out the door, and into the hall. She didn’t even make it to the steps before she was stopped.

“Elizabeth” Veronica called, walking towards her with Archie and Toni.

“Good morning” her initial smile faded as they got closer and she could plainly see their expressions, “What is it?”

“Archie, would you mind giving us a moment please, darling” Veronica asked her husband, looking at him lovingly and giving the arm she was holding a gently squeeze.

He smiled at his wife, “Of course” he looked at Toni and Betty and bowed politely, “Excuse me ladies”

After Archie was out of ear shot, Toni and Veronica ushered Betty back into her room, telling they had to talk to her about something important. Betty sat on the edge of her bed and her friends stood in front of her.

“You two are starting to scare me a little” Betty said, only half-way joking.

“Liz, please just listen. It’s about your friend Forsythe” Toni said

“Jughead? What about him?” she asked smiling, she didn’t know what they were trying to say.

“It’s just…well…do you know what started that fight between your husband and him last night” Veronica said uneasily.

“Yes, Charles called Jughead and his friends a terrible name and they were offended” she said plainly.

“That’s only part of the reason” Toni chimed in.

Betty didn’t say anything, she was entirely confused as to where her friends were going with this.

“Eliza, Charles insulted you by accusing Jughead of having an affair with you. That’s what made him so angry, he was protecting your honor” Veronica said gently.

“Charles said that” Betty gasped. It shouldn’t surprise her that Chuck did something stupid when he was drunk – he never could hold his liquor well. It was the fact that he so brazenly accused her and her friend of something they didn’t do.

“He did” Veronica nodded.

“But that’s not all we wanted to talk to you about” Toni said.

“What else did you want to tell me?” Betty asked innocently.

“Oh Lizzy, my darling innocent angel, don’t you already know?” Veronica said, walking forward and sitting beside her friend. She covered her hands with her own.

“No, what is it?” Betty asked, concerned.

“Jughead's in love with you, Eliza” Toni said softly.

Betty sat on her bed at a loss for words. Jughead couldn’t be in love with her, could he?

“That…that can’t be. We’re just friends, why are you saying this?”

“Liz, he practically told me so last night at the party” Toni said, coming to sit on Betty’s other side, “I had to beg him not to do anything that could hurt you”

“And I watched him all night, he was staring at you 90% of the time” Veronica told her as she stroked her hair.

“But that doesn’t mean he loves me” Betty protested weakly, even though somehow, she knew they were right.

“There’s no mistaking the way he looks at you, Eliza” Toni squeezed her shoulders trying to comfort her.

Betty felt so lost, she didn’t know what to do. Her friend was in love with her and she had no idea what to do now. She didn’t know what her own feelings towards him were; she couldn’t even think straight right now. She felt so frustrated that tears began to form in her eyes, and she clenched her fists, only hard enough to leave an angry red mark but not enough to draw blood.

“What do I do?” she whispered feebly.

“Elizabeth, do you love Jughead back?” Toni asked. Veronica shot her a look.

“I don’t know, Toni. I don’t know anything right now. I’m so lost and confused” Betty wept.

“You’re not lost, Lizzy. Toni and I are here, no matter what. And it’s okay if you’re not sure what to do right now, this is going to take some time to figure out” Veronica said soothingly.

Betty nodded and rested her head on Veronica’s shoulder; Toni rested her head on Betty’s.

***

She’s been avoiding him for a week now. He worried she was afraid of him for his anger or ashamed that he let his temper get out of hand. Maybe she heard what Chuck accused him of and couldn’t bear to be around him for fear of the court gossips spreading rumors about her. Or maybe it had something to do with that devil of a husband she had. Regardless, he needed to talk to her and find out why she’d been evading him.

He walked to her chambers and knocked on the door. After a moment she opened the door, but only a crack so he couldn’t get in and it was clear she wasn’t going to step out.

“What is it Jughead?” she asked. She sounded so tired and weak and he knew something he did brought her to this.

He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, “Betty, I’m sorry for making a scene at the dinner party last week. I shouldn’t have gotten so incensed when I did. Please, can we go back to being friends like we were I…I miss you Betty. I miss spending time with you, can you forgive me for my temper?”

Betty opened the door a little bit more, but her face wasn’t gentle and forgiving, it was puzzled.

“Wait, you think I distanced myself from you because of what happened at the party?” she said

“Is that not it?” he asked, bewildered.

“No, Juggie, no. I’m not mad at you for what happened at the dinner party between you and my husband, I…” she sighed and shut her eyes for a moment, then peeked her head out of the doorway to make sure no one was around other than them, “Do you think of me when we’re not together?”

“I only ever think of you” he answered softly. Her question startled him of course, but once again, he simply couldn’t lie to her.

“Now do you understand why I’ve been keeping to myself. We cannot be together, Jughead; it’s impossible, no matter what we feel for each other” she insisted, opening her door a little bit more. “There are too many barriers and rules, not mention how dangerous it is”

“Because of your husband?” he asked

“Yes because of my husband. I’m not free, Jug. I’m not free to love you the way you should be loved, the way I want to. My advice: go find someone who can” she said sadly, looking away from him.

“Betty, does he hurt you?” Jughead whispered

She looked so surprised he’d ask her point blank if her husband hurt her.

“That doesn’t concern you” she said defensively.

“Yes it does. Betty, you mean more to me than you know, and I can’t just sit by and let you get hurt” he rested his hands on her neck and she let go of the door and placed her hands on his sides.

“You’re not, this is my choice. Please Juggie, you must let me go. You mean so much to me too, but I need to keep you safe from him” she said

“But what about you?” he said desperately, his voice husky with emotion. Both of them had tears in their eyes.

She moved her hands to his chest, “I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself, you know”

A small smile played across his lips, “I do”

She kissed his right palm and eased his hands from her neck, “Go on now Juggie, don’t look back”

She shut the door slowly, and Jughead stood in his place looking into her eyes until it was completely closed.

He had something worth fighting for now: Betty. He had to find a way to keep her safe from Chuck. She was strong, he knew that, but Chuck was an unpredictable monster that could crush her light for the fun of it anytime he pleased.

Jughead would never let her light go out, no matter what.

***

Betty pressed her back against the door with her palms flat against it once it was shut and wiped away the tears on her cheeks. She listened to his footsteps as he walked away.

She didn’t tell him everything her husband did to her, she didn’t tell him about everything she collected on him in the past 9 months, and she didn’t tell him how deeply she really cared for him.

 _I’ll tell you everything one day, Juggie. I promise_ , she thought as she let her head fall back with a soft thud against the door.

* * *

Książę - Prince

Polak - seriously, don't ever call a Pole this 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh...my heart aches for them, and I'm the one writing this thing!
> 
> That's all I have to say for now, I'm just enjoying fics and video edits before canon comes back and says "HA! You thought!" in my face.
> 
> See you lovely dudes and dudettes (whichever you prefer) next time. Love and hugs to all!
> 
> Hope you guys have a wonderful 2021 - Hey Jane, get me off this crazy thing called 2020 (a cookie if you get that reference right)


	5. Don’t Give Up On Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Polish plot, a dance with the devil, a kiss, a letter, a conversation, and a choice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Don't Give Up On Me" - Andy Grammer  
> (I don't wanna hear it, this was the only song that could do this chapter justice)
> 
> The reference I made in last chapter's notes was from the movie, "So I Married an Axe Murder" (super funny, highly recommend)  
> I'm a little disappointed no one even tried to guess. Maybe next time, I hope.

Fangs returned earlier that morning from tracking the King.

Jug didn’t meet with him immediately, on account of him going to see Betty and finding out about her husband. When she told him, it felt like something cut straight through his heart. The idea that anybody could hurt her made him more angry than he’d ever been in his entire life. How could such a good, kind, intelligent, and loving person be subjected to so much pain and simply stand by and take it? That alone had to make her the strongest person he’d ever known, for her to live through this and be as good a person as she was, was truly a remarkable feat.

He didn’t know what he was going to do to save her, but it had to be done none the less. It would take careful planning, and some of the ideas he had could quite possibly get him thrown in prison or executed. But it didn’t matter what happened to him, he never had much to live for anyways.

***

Jughead walked into his chambers; Fangs was leaning against the entryway to his balcony watching the rain clouds roll in. He had been waiting there for Jug to come back for some time now, when he left all Jug said was “It’s personal” and walked out the door. He noticed how miserable Jug looked as he entered and made a note to talk to him about it later.

“Alright Fangs” Jug sighed as walked, rubbing his left temple – no doubt trying to soothe a coming headache, “what do you have for me?”

“You won’t like it” Fangs warned.

“Just spit it out ty draniu” Jug

Fangs sighed, “It seems His Majesty King Louis XIV has decided to postpone our peace negotiations due to it interfering with a visit to his lover”

Everything was silent for a moment, the kind of silence where there is no peace in the air. Only energy. The way you feel the restlessness before a storm. Jughead was the storm, and he was going to tear down King Louis XIV as if he were a limp tree in a strong wind.

“A lover” he said lowly, his hands on his hips as he walked onto his balcony. The wind was picking up, throwing his dark hair this way and that, but that was the last thing on his mind right now.

“Yes” Fangs replied, his eyes locked on Jug.

“That nieudolny głupiec put his own desires before matters of international importance” he growled, his right pointer finger beginning to tap quickly on his side. It always did when he got like this. It would be an understatement to say he was angry; he was furious and every other adjective synonymous to that. What a way to make this day worse, he didn’t think that was possible.

He grit his teeth and pressed his fingers so hard into his ribs he might’ve bruised his kidneys if he kept them there long enough. He was breathing deep to try and calm himself down enough to think clearly. He needed to be levelheaded about this unless he wanted to hand Louis everything he wanted and expected from him on a silver platter. Luckily, Fangs understood and didn’t interrupt his thought process. Jug covered his nose and mouth loosely with both his hands and took a breath, then ran them through his hair.

“Ok”, he muttered as he took another breath while one of his hands was still tangled in his hair and the other back on his hip. He shut his eyes and listened to the sounds of the wind – now strong – billowing the trees and window shutters that weren’t yet closed by the servants, who were no doubt hustling and bustling around the palace to ensure everything was properly secured before the storm hit. There was also a dog barking on another side of the palace at its owner.

Jugheads eyes shot open as a thought crossed his mind: The King didn’t know that Jug knew about his little triste. That could give him an advantage over him, however brief it may be as that man was slicker than liquid wax and infuriatingly cunning. Nevertheless, it was imperative that Jug seized this opportunity to get a leg up on him or run the risk of losing it forever.

He turned to his friend, his eyes filled with urgency, placed his hands on his shoulders and squeezed, “Fangs, no one saw you, did they?”

Fangs shook his head, “I was careful, and they were too busy with themselves to notice anything beyond their nose”

A wicked – almost insane – grin slowly grew across Jughead’s face and his eyes were laced with the same demeanor. Fangs was concerned, but also intrigued as to what sparked this into the young Prince.

Jug saw how Fangs was looking at him, “Oh, Fangs. Fangs don’t you see it? He doesn’t know we know. The idiot just gave us the upper hand, and he has nothing on me” he exclaimed.

Fangs began to smile too once he understood where Jug was coming from. They could strike a blow to the French and their King whenever the opportune moment came. It was their ace in the hole, a secret weapon they had to be careful about unveiling. But both boys knew that as long they had this information, that wretched monarch couldn’t force them to their knees and make them beg. In fact, they both hoped it would quite the opposite, but only time would tell.

***

“Wait, hold on. I’m not following” Sweet Pea said as he sat in the desk chair in Joaquin’s chambers where all five of the Poles were mapping out their next move.

Right after Jug and Fangs left his chambers, they gathered their friends together in Joaquin’s rooms, but not before Jug employed Kevin’s niche for getting people to talk. He had Kev ask a few members of the Privy Council where the King had gone to. They all had the same answer, “His Majesty is currently away visiting some villages during their Summer Celebrations, but he should be back at court very soon”.

Honestly, none of them knew how Kevin got answers out of people so easily, but did they want to find out? Not particularly, no. And it was probably better for all of them that way.

“King Louis lied to us Sweets, and his council did the same” Jughead explained “He left court two days after we arrived because he wanted to satisfy himself more than he wanted anything to do with me and our country’s needs”

“Do you think it was planned or a random act of fate?” Joaquin asked, staring at the floor with his arms crossed as he stood next to Sweet Pea by the desk.

It was raining now, the water droplets hitting the windows and made it so you could not see out. They were coming down from the sky very quickly and very violently, but they too – like the trees not one hour ago – were being thrown about by the strong winds. Low thunder was rumbling in the distance. The sky outside was a dark shade of gray, and sometimes on days like these you feel as though you will never see the sun again.

“Does it make a difference?” Kevin said, his voice spiked with venom. He wasn’t one to angry very often, perhaps that’s why he and Jug were such good friends. Jughead found a reason to beat others to a pulp as often as he could, it was a feeling that he needed and a pain he could understand. Kevin, on the other hand, was more even tempered and much more willing to talk things over and forgive.

“No, it makes no difference at all” Jug said as he stared out the window.

“Then what now?” Sweet Pea asked.

All of his friends looked at Jughead, waiting for their Prince to give them their orders.

“Fangs, you tell them” he said, not looking away from the window “I have a headache”. The rain reminded him of the tears on Betty’s pale cheeks that morning. Tears he hated to think she was crying right now. It made his heart hurt to picture her in her rooms, all alone, quietly sobbing.

Fangs nodded, and the three other boys turned their attention to him. “Well, what we have on King Louis is strong, but it isn’t enough to get him to bend. So…we’re going to have to find a way to get into his rooms and find more leverage on him before he returns to court”

“That’s insane”

“How are we supposed to do that?”

“I like it”

Kevin groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, “Okay, let’s say we try. How much time would we even have to plan and pull this off?”

“Oh don’t worry about that Kev. From what I saw he’s in no hurry to leave” Fangs jested with a small smirk.

“How would we even get in? There’s guards outside the door to his apartments at all times, and I’m willing to bet there are some inside as well” Joaquin pointed out.

“So what? I can take all of them in a heartbeat” Sweet Pea said, cracking his knuckles.

“No Pea” Jughead said quickly, making all of them turn to look at him. “We have to do this quickly, quietly, and without getting blood on our hands as much as we can help it”

“Never thought I’d hear that coming from you” Sweet Pea joked. Jug smirked and rolled his eyes at his friend, Pea and Jug had both been in their fair share of fights on their day.

“Just go and get the rest of the men so we can plan” he said.

Sweet Pea stood and left the room, while he was gone Fangs, Jug, Kevin, and Joaquin began to talk uneasy small talk.

“So Jug, what’s going with you and Elizabeth Clayton?” Kevin asked with a smirk and eyebrow raised. The man was a bloodhound for anything even remotely scandalous.

“Why are you asking?” Jug asked, trying to sound as disinterested as he could.

“Well, I just noticed you staring at her during that dinner party last week, and you were gone for a while this morning”

“Are you seriously trying to imply that she is my mistress?” Jug said defensively, his temper beginning to worsen. “Isn’t she your friend?”

“She is, yes. I only wondered if-“

“Well stop wondering then, Keller” Jug spat “She is a friend to me, nothing more. And your implications are insulting to me and to her”

Somehow, even though he looked apologetic, Kevin also looked disappointed. Like he’d been hoping for Jug to just outright say how he felt about Betty. But Jug would not give him any reason to go blabbing off with the rest of the court gossips like he knew he would. Not that he would intentionally do so, it’s just that when it came to particularly juicy gossip, Kevin wasn’t very good at keeping it to himself.

***

The days passed for Betty in boring repetition ever since she let Jughead go. It hardly felt like the five days it actually was, but five months.

She spent the days with the wives of high members of state – luncheons, sewing circles, and just sitting in the garden watching their children run and play. It was at her husbands demand she throw herself into court life more then she had before, to raise his own station and regard in court, even though none of them knew when the King would return.

In the evenings, she attended every party that was thrown with her husband, Toni, Veronica, Archie, and her sister-in-law that recently arrived. She was glad to see Cheryl, they had a bit of a complicated relationship and didn’t always get along very well, but they spent a lot of time together during Polly and Jason’s wedding. After that, they were both fiercely loyal and protective of one another.

Cheryl didn’t know about Betty’s awful marriage, and she had to beg Veronica and Toni to not tell her anything. She had no doubt that Cheryl would rip Chuck limb from limb for all the things he did to her and that was exactly what she afraid of. If anyone were to kill the Duke of Thouars and get caught for it, they would be tried and executed. And because she was a woman, Cheryl wouldn’t receive a fair trial and would be killed.

Tonight’s party was like every other Betty attended since she arrived at court over a month ago. She was standing and watching the people dancing in the middle of the room, she saw a young couple completely enthralled with one another as the danced. Gazing into each other’s eyes, holding each other close, and their smiles were real. For a moment, she imagined that was herself and Jughead, but she blinked the image away before it broke her heart even more.

She turned her attention elsewhere in the room. Veronica and Archie were talking and laughing together by a table that had pastries and other refreshments. Veronica was affectionately dabbing a spot of jam off the side of her husbands’ mouth with a napkin.

On the other side of the room, Cheryl and Toni were deeply engaged in conversation. Betty smirked, she always thought there was something there, ever since she noticed the look Toni gave Cheryl at her sister’s engagement party. Other people might see it as wrong for two women to care deeply for one another, but Betty didn’t care so long as they were happy.

Finally, she saw Kevin striding towards her with a smile on his face that she couldn’t help but return.

“Kev, good to see you” she said brightly.

“Good to see you too, Liz” he replied. He looked away from her and out at the party, “You know, I can’t help but feel that at some point tonight someone is going to end up so drunk they’ll be on one of those tables singing at the top of their lungs”

Betty and Kevin laughed at the image, which wouldn’t be unheard of considering the things they had both seen and heard about the festivities in the palace. Her laughter was short lived, however.

“Elizabeth” Chuck called as he walked up to her. The sound of his voice made her heart start pounding in her chest – and not in a good way. But because of the rules of their game, she looked at him with a calm look on her face.

He held his hand out to her, “Come wife, let us dance”

They walked out into the center of the room. Chuck was holding one of her hands in his own, the other was on her waist. She rested her free hand on his shoulder and forced herself to wear the look Veronica had been giving Archie earlier: loving.

They waltzed as the music played from the orchestra, other couples around them doing the same. She did her best to keep her breath even and her heartbeat under control, whenever he sensed her fear, he took advantage of it.

As they danced, Betty noticed that her friends were watching her fearfully. Veronica was preparing herself to swoop in and save her from Chuck, with Toni at her side. But they both knew she wouldn’t want them to do anything brash. Kevin and Cheryl were also watching, but they didn’t see what was really there.

Out of the entire Polish delegation, only Kevin and a handful of soldiers had appeared that evening. Jughead was nowhere to be seen tonight, she hadn’t seen him in days and yet every time she attended a court festivity, she hoped he would be there. Just to know that he was in the same room as herself was a comfort, even if she couldn’t talk to him.

Chuck spun her under his arm.

She suspected the reason he took her away from Kevin, and she also suspected once this dance was over, they would leave the party.

It was what came after that really frightened, because there was no predicting what that would be.

He dipped her and she let one of her arms fall behind her, so her fingertips almost grazed the fine tiled floor while the other was still wrapped around his shoulder.

The music ended and Betty curtsied while Chuck bowed. He offered her his arm and he led her off to the side of the room. They stood next to each other while the next song played, and people continued to dance.

“Who were looking for?” he whispered vindictively.

“No one” she hissed.

“Don’t lie to your husband Elizabeth”

“Honestly Charles, I’m not your property. You cannot keep pretending you own me” she spat. Ordinarily she’d have more restraint, but tonight she just couldn’t take it with his nonsense. She instantly regretted her choice of words when he grabbed her hand tightly and led her out of the ballroom, through so many corridors, to the other side of the palace.

He kept his pace even while they were still in the ballroom and around others but quickened once they were alone. She tried to fight him off her, but it was useless. He was much stronger than she was physically.

They were in a dark hallway where the only light was from a few torches set up on the wall. He pushed her against the wall roughly and held onto her arms so she couldn’t struggle and get free. It was almost a replay of her wedding night, how cruel.

“Your feisty side is starting to show again, Elizabeth” he spoke in a low voice “Just as I was beginning to think I’d never get to play my favorite game again. Go on then, let’s hear it”

She would not give him the satisfaction, she only stared at him with hate in her eyes and her mouth a tight line.

He smirked and narrowed his eyes, “I think you’re getting a bit too brave for your own good wife”

He pressed his leg in between her thighs, and his smirk only grew when he heard the hitch in her breath from the surprise. He leaned forward so he was close to her ear.

“I know you desire him still, Elizabeth” he whispered “That was one of his little friends you were speaking too earlier, wasn’t it?”

 _Yes I do, and he was. There isn’t a single thing you can do to change that,_ she thought.

Betty kept her eyes locked on the wall in front of her, and she bit her tongue so she wouldn’t say anything to make this worse. Her hands were balled into fists while her nails dug into the skin of her palms.

He chuckled darkly, “Don’t you know the consequences of adultery, Elizabeth?”

“I have done nothing of the sort” she said spitefully.

“Does it matter what you have or have not done? I don’t think it does. I am your husband Elizabeth, if I were to lawfully accuse you of being an adulteress, who do you think people will believe?” he said, holding her chin with one hand so she had no choice but to face him.

“You wouldn’t dare” she tried to sound brave and self-assured, even though deep down she was starting to crumble.

“Wouldn’t I? Well I suppose we’ll find that out, wont we? Goodnight Elizabeth” he let go of her and walked away, back to the party.

Betty stayed planted against the wall with her hands still clenched into fists. She was beginning to feel her blood starting to drip down her hands and onto the floor, but she just couldn’t will herself to move from that very spot. Her thoughts were too consumed by Chuck’s threat, would he really do that to her? She certainly wouldn’t put it past him.

***

He finally got the fight he’d been itching for since he arrived in France.

A viscount’s son was drunk off his ass and delirious in the garden and got in his face while he was trying to enjoy a quiet evening alone. Jug decided it was as good a time as any to let out his pent-up aggression.

And if anyone asked, Jug didn’t start the fight – he never did – he merely taught the boy a lesson he needed to learn. No one could fault him if he was defending himself and his honor.

Props to the boy, though. He certainly did a number on Jug even though he was drunk.

Jug’s hands were torn up, his bottom lip was bleeding, his back was hurt from when the boy pushed him down, his stomach hurt from being kicked, one black eye – you get the picture. It is important to note that the boy he fought with looked much worse. And the pain was worth it to Jughead, all for the adrenaline he got when he did this.

In an odd way – he felt as though he deserved to feel all the pain he was feeling right now. He was the disappointing son his parents had to put up with, he was the reason Betty was hurt.

His parents shame he could bear – they had three other sons to mold however they wanted – but he needed his inward pain to become something physical for getting Betty hurt. His punishment for his actions.

 _I suppose the party is still going on_ , he thought as he walked – slow so he wouldn’t make his injuries worse.

He was going back to his rooms to get himself cleaned up and bandaged. He passed many dimly lit corridors with nothing special about them, except one not far from the library. He could tell whatever was pressed up against the wall was a person, but he couldn’t see who. That meant everything – who it was would dictate whether or not he helped.

“Hello?” he said flatly.

He didn’t hear anything except a barely discernable whisper.

“Juggie”

Betty.

He went to her as quickly as he could manage, no longer thinking about his pain. She was plastered to the wall, she looked so pale from fear and her hands were bleeding. He felt like someone plunged a knife through his heart when he saw her in such a state, once again it was his fault and he wasn’t there to protect her.

 _If you can’t keep her safe, how can you be worthy of her?_ A small voice said in his head, but he tried to ignore it.

He pulled her off the wall and into his arms, stroking her hair as he whispered gentle nothings to help her calm down. He took her hands and opened them from the tight balls they were in and saw the deep crescent cuts on both her palms.

The pain in his heart burned even more when he saw that.

“Oh, darling” he whispered anxiously, looking from her wounds to her.

“I’m sorry, Juggie” she whispered back, sadly.

She was worried this all would be too much for him to take, and he would run.

Leaving her alone.

“No, don’t apologize Betts. Its alright, I’m going to help you get cleaned up okay?” he muttered.

She nodded and let him scoop her up and carry her up to his chambers. His back, hands, and stomach were all screaming out in pain as he carried her through halls and up steps, but all he was focused on was Betty. All the rest was nothing to him.

She shut her eyes and snuggled her face into his chest, listening to the rhythm of his heart as they went. It was a comforting sound, something that reminded her he was real, and not a hallucination because of how much blood she lost or whatever trance she’d been in.

He set her down gently when they reached the door to his chambers, he opened it and let her inside. He was glad he told his men they didn’t have to stand guard at his door tonight, and never in a million years would he permit French soldiers to be so close to him. This meant he didn’t have to deal with any unwanted distractions.

He led her to sit on the end of his bed, while he got a water basin and wash cloth. She looked around at the room. It had nice wood floors, a large window and balcony, a beautiful fireplace, and the sheets on his bed looked so comfortable. There was also a large cluttered wood desk, covered in books and very few pieces of paper.

He walked back to her with the basin and washcloth and knelt beside her, placed the basin next to him, and damped the washcloth. She gave him her hands and he cleaned them as gently as he could.

They didn’t speak, but she studied him. He had a black eye and a torn lip; his hands were cut up as well. Concern filled her, what happened to him? She was willing to bet he had other injuries he wasn’t showing.

When he finished and he was about to stand up and put the basin and bloody washcloth away, she stopped him by putting her hand on his cheek. He kissed her palm and looked back at her. She was slowly inching towards him, until she was close enough that their noses almost touched.

She kissed him.

Or maybe he kissed her?

Neither would ever really know who started it, but it still happened. A clash of lips and tongues.

He decided kissing her was his new favorite thing, and he kept doing it again and again. Never truly getting enough of her taste (fresh berries and cinnamon sugar) – in a way, he was addicted to her. And he didn’t mind one bit. She rested both her hands on the side of his face, and he reached up and cupped hers. Her lips were just as soft as he imagined against his.

Betty ran her hand through his soft dark locks as she kissed him. He tasted like spice and a little bit like blood from his torn lip. But it didn’t matter right now, all she wanted to do was enjoy this moment.

They let go after another moment, pressing their foreheads together and trying to even out their breathing. His hands still held her face, and she held his. They both smiled warmly at each other, their eyes overflowing with emotion.

“You have no idea how long I wanted to do that” he said softly.

“Me too” she said.

He eased himself to his feet and kissed her forehead, “We should bandage your hands”

She nodded and watched him as he bent over to pick up the water basin. He winced in pain.

“Jug, what happened to you?” she asked fearfully.

“Nothing, I’m fine” he told her.

Once the basin and washcloth were back on the table they belonged on, and he retrieved the bandages, he was once again kneeling before her.

She saw how bad it hurt him to stand up and move around in general, and she couldn’t help but press the issue more.

“You’re clearly not fine Jug, tell me what happened” she begged as he wrapped one of her hands.

“It’s not important Betts” he said, tying the bandage so it wouldn’t unravel. He took her other hand and began to wrap it.

“It **is** important, Juggie. You’re hurt, let me help you, please” she insisted.

He didn’t reply, he didn’t know what he should say.

He was terrified that if he told her the truth, she’d abandon him just like everyone else in his life. That was a fate he couldn’t live through.

He was almost done with wrapping her other hand now, and he tied it up when he finished.

When he let go of her hands, she slipped off the edge of his bed and sat next to him on her knees. She took his face in her hands again and touched the cut on his lip with her thumb. He flinched slightly when she did.

“See? You’re not fine. Let me help you the way you helped me” she pleaded.

He got to his feet, “Betty, really you don’t need to worry about me. I’m fine” he said as he took a few steps away from her.

“Stop saying that you’re fine” she exclaimed, walking towards him, and placing her hands on his shoulders “If you’re worried about me running, I can promise you I won’t, you see the kind of things I live through. Jug, let me in, let me help you”

“I don’t need anyone’s help” he shouted. He wasn’t used to people actually caring, sure he had his friends, but they didn’t worry about him on this level. Every time someone tried, he short circuited and pushed them away, because he didn’t know what else to do.

Betty looked like she’d been slapped across the face, and she took a few steps back from him, shaking her head slightly.

“Betty, I-“ he tried to say, regret filling his face.

“Save it” she stopped him and wrapped her arms around herself “All I wanted was to help you, does that really make me such a bad person?”

She didn’t even wait for an answer, she walked quickly to the door and in an instant she was gone.

Jughead was left standing in the middle of his chamber. He was furious at himself. He never wanted to hurt her, but that was exactly what he just did.

***

There was a knock on his door the next morning.

“Jug?” Kevin peeked in the room.

He saw Jug collapsed on his bed, still his clothes from the day before – even his boots. The books and papers that were stacked on his desk had all been pushed to the ground. The clothes in his trunk were thrown everywhere, and his desk chair was on its side.

Kevin sighed at the sight, walked onto the room, and sat on the edge of the bed “Oh, Jug. What happened?”

Jughead was lying on his stomach, but at the sound of friend’s voice he turned his head and rested it on his arms which were crossed above him. The one eye that wasn’t hurt was red from tears.

“I ruined everything Kev, just like I always do” he mumbled.

“Before we talk this through, we need to get something on that eye and any other injuries you got last night” Kevin said sternly.

Jug didn’t have the energy to argue, so he crawled out of bed and let Kevin take care of him. Luckily, he only had some bruises on his stomach and his back wasn’t hurting anymore, he cleaned the wounds on his hands and wrapped them and gave him a compress for his eye.

“Okay, now tell me what happened” Kevin said, standing in front of Jug who was sitting on the edge of his bed, holding his head between his knees.

“I yelled at her Kev, I told her I didn’t need her help and she was just trying to be nice” he mumbled.

“Elizabeth?” Kevin asked gently.

“No, you’re Aunt Sophia. Yes, Elizabeth” Jughead snapped and shot Kevin a nasty look.

“Hey, watch your tone, głupek. You might be my Prince, but I don’t have to take that attitude” Kevin crossed his arms and threw Jug a nasty look as well.

Jug sighed and bowed his head again, “I’m sorry, Kev”

“Jughead, do you love her?” Kevin asked softly after a moment.

New tears were beginning to form in Jug’s good eye again and he nodded.

“Then why don’t you tell her that. Go find her and tell her how you feel, and then the two of you can work it out together” Kevin insisted.

“I can’t” Jug whispered.

“Why not?”

“She’d get hurt again, and it would be all my fault **again** ” Jughead muttered tearfully.

“Jug, I know you don’t have the best conversation skills, but-“ Kevin started.

Jug cut him off, “It’s her husband, Kev”

“What about him?” he asked carefully.

“He hurts her, I don’t know in what way exactly, but he does” Jug explained.

Kevin was shocked, he should’ve seen the signs, but they weren’t there. Betty had gotten so good at hiding she could’ve fooled the world she was a happy young married woman. Kevin though of her as a friend, and he was so upset that as her friend he allowed this to happen to the last person in the world that deserved it.

“I want Charles to suffer, to feel her pain” Jug uttered angrily.

Kev took a deep breath, he wanted that too, but he also wanted two of the people he cares very much for to be happy. He stepped forward and put a hand on Jug’s shoulder.

“We can deal with the Duke another time, but first you need to fix things with Elizabeth’ he said.

“How? She probably doesn’t want to see me anymore after last night” Jug pressed.

Kevin laughed softly, “Jug, I’m sure it’s not as bad as you think it is. If you truly love her and she loves you, then everything will work out in the end. If you don’t want to talk to her face to face, why don’t you write her a letter and tell her everything. Including why you snapped”

Jug nodded and turned his gaze to the wood desk.

***

Betty wasn’t heartbroken over Jughead and the events of last night, but she was very hurt he didn’t seem to trust her enough to share his pain after she shared hers. She was hurt he wouldn’t let her return the favor of taking care of him when he needed it

She hadn’t left her room all morning and took breakfast in her chambers. She was so tired and didn’t sleep well or really at all, she had been awake all night shedding silent tears of shame and sadness. She was lying on her bed and staring at the ceiling, trying to collect her thoughts and get some perspective when she heard a knock at her door.

“Yes” she called, sitting up on her bed.

A maid with rosy cheeks and light brown hair stepped into the room, “A letter for you, Miss Elizabeth”

“Thank you, Colette” Betty said, reaching to take the letter.

Once the girl had left, Betty turned the letter over to see who the sender was, she hadn’t been expecting a letter from anyone today. There was no name except her own _Elizabeth_ written across it. She got out of bed and went to her balcony to read in the morning air.

She opened the folded parchment and began to read:

_Ma Belle Rayon de Lumière,_

_Mere words cannot describe the pain I feel for the way I spoke to you last night. It might sound absurd, but I was afraid._

_I was afraid of letting you see how damaged I really am, not on the outside I’m confident you already have a pretty good idea about that already, but on the inside. My darling, I have been on my own for most of life. My father was always too busy dealing with matters of state to give his children any attention. And my mother is much too self-centered, I don’t think she ever cared for anyone other than herself._

_When I was eleven, I got in my first fight with a boy that was picking on my sister. Even though I got pummeled rather badly, the rush I got was indescribable. I loved how it felt to feel pain you could point at and say, “this is what hurts”. Ever since that day I never backed down from a fight and occasionally even seeked them out._

_That is where I was before I found you last night. I got into a fight with a drunk boy in the garden, and for absolutely no other reason than I wanted to. I was angry._

_I was angry and felt so useless that I couldn’t protect you from your monster of a husband. I know you demanded I don’t do anything, but the trouble is I’m too involved now. I cannot and will not walk away from this._

_I realize how hypocritical I sound, seeing as I wouldn’t accept your help, but that’s all I know. No one ever cared enough to help me the way you wanted to, and I got scared. So scared that I would loose you over this, because you would want nothing to do with a man addicted to pain with a horrible family._

_I hope you can forgive me my fear, anger, and stubbornness._

_And now, there is something I should’ve told you the day we met._

_I’m in love with you._

_It is foolish of me to expect you to return my affections, but I simply could not go another day without you know the depth of my feelings for you._

_I have not loved another as I love you, I swear that on my life._

_Despite what people may think, I have not had a slew of mistresses in my life in Poland. I’ve only ever been with two women, and I did not love them. It was only a brief infatuation._

_But you, my dearest, you have bewitched me, and I find myself incapable of being without you. I hope beyond words your feelings towards me are the same, but if they are not, I will stay silent forever._

_Ton Oiseau Corbeau_

Betty looked at the parchment and read and reread it to make sure she was seeing correctly.

Jughead was in love with her.

Tears of joys were falling down her cheeks, and she covered her bright smile with her hand bashfully. She needed to find him and tell him she loved him too, she has for so long now and she needed him just as much as he needed her.

She quickly pulled on a loose white shirt, a light blue skirt, and her good pair of boots and dashed out the door of her chambers.

She went to his rooms, but he wasn’t there. She paced the floor for a moment trying to think of where he might be, when he appeared in the doorway. He had a terrified and surprised look on his face when he saw her. His hair messy, and still in the exact clothes she’d last seen him in – a shirt and black trousers. But none of that mattered to her, he was her Juggie.

She rushed towards him and flung her arms around him, wrapping her legs around his middle. He held her there in his arms and when she leaned back to look at him, he tangled one of his hands into her blonde hair.

“I’m in love with you too, Juggie” she said softly, a warm smile on her face.

He smiled so joyfully, and then kissed her.

***

They spent the day in a field a short ride on horseback from court where they could be alone together.

Betty was sitting with her back against Jug’s stomach in between his legs. His arms were around her and she never felt more loved and safe in her entire life.

“I wish this could be our normal” she said.

“I do to, Betts. Maybe someday it can” he said

She turned her face so she could see him and smirked, “Someday?”

He smiled back at her and kissed her forehead, “If you think I’m ever letting you go Betts, you’re the craziest woman I know”

She giggled and resigned herself to just enjoy this day with her lover. They would figure out what to do about her husband later, but this was a happy moment. Not to be spoiled with darkness and pain.

* * *

ty draniu - you bastard

nieudolny głupiec - inept fool

Ma Belle Rayon de Lumière - my beautiful ray of light

Ton Oiseau Corbeau - your raven bird

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I missed you all, it's been too long! Writers block is a bitch, let me tell you.
> 
> Because I made you wait so long, I'll try to have the next chapter out sooner than usual, and I'll make it extra fluffy and romantic.
> 
> Also, I'm gonna be releasing an entirely new fic in few weeks that I really fell in love with while writing and I'm super excited to see what you guys think. Meaning, I'm gonna be splitting my time between that, this, and all personal obligations - so take it easy on me when it comes to my updating schedule. Everything will get written and published, it just might take a bit longer than it did before.
> 
> See you next time guys! Love to everyone!


	6. Everybody Loves Somebody

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some important conversations are had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Everybody Loves Somebody" - Dean Martin (I'm not old, I just like old timey music)
> 
> The fluffiness is my Valentine's Day gift to all of you <3
> 
> Happy belated Galentine's Day to all you incredible ladies out there too! You are all special and beautiful, don't ever let anybody tell you otherwise!

Betty was staring out at the rolling hills in front of her, absentmindedly stroking one of the arms Jug had around her.

“Jug?” she said.

“Yes, Betts?”

She turned in his arms to face him and ran a hand through his hair and rested it on his cheek. He kissed her wrapped palm when she did.

“Will you tell me more about your family?” she asked.

Jughead sighed, looked at the grass, and started picking at a few blades near him “Are you sure you want to hear about that Betty?”

She nodded and moved back to sit cross legged, giving him her full attention.

“I don’t know why my father ever wanted to become a King; he’s always been a natural soldier. But he came to the thrown at the beginning of a war, despite the fact the Commonwealth is almost always at war with someone. He’s always been distant, from all of us. My mother on the other hand is an ambitious witch who’d do anything to get what she wants. She practically controls my father’s every move, but she never makes time for her children.

“I’m the son my parents wished they didn’t have. I don’t like court rules or life in general, where you never know who your real friends are. I get into too many fights. I don’t bother to show up to their festivities half the time”

Betty smiled, “I’ve seen you at more than one court function” she teased.

He hummed a laugh, “That was because I was hoping to see certain fair-headed girl I’ve gotten rather attached to” he tucked a lock of Betty’s hair behind her ear as he spoke.

“My older brother James has always been the favorite of my father; I assume only because he’s the oldest. And my mother spends most of her time overseeing my younger sister and brothers’ educations. Then there’s me, stuck in the middle. I get the sense none of them really know what to do with me, so they just leave me alone and only interfere to tell me I should behave like the Prince I am.

“None of them see me Betts. I’m just something you put in a drawer for safe keeping and forget it’s there. Then when you finally open it back up, you don’t need it anymore”

She took his face in her hands and forced him to meet her eyes, “I see you” she said gently before pressing a kiss to his lips.

“As it happens, I know what that feeling is like. All my mother wanted from my sister, brother, and I was to make good matches. When we were young, she would go on and on about how if we didn’t marry right, we’d have no future” Betty said as she intertwined their hands.

“My brother got married to a general’s daughter and my sister married a Duke. They both got so lucky in their marriages, Juggie. They both deeply love their spouse, and my mother didn’t have to arrange anything for them. Once my sister was married, my mother focused on getting me married as quickly as possible. I felt like a sheep being sold to the highest bidder, ‘She’s a feisty young thing so you’ll have to keep her secure, how much are you willing to pay?’” she deepened her voice to sound like an auctioneer and they both laughed.

She turned her face to the breeze for a moment as he played with her fingers. He gazed at her as her golden hair was blown behind her by the summer breeze and the sun beamed down on her. She looked back at him and grinned lovingly, which he returned. He lifted one of her hands to his lips and kissed her knuckles.

“So Charles was the highest bidder, then?” he asked tentatively after a moment.

She nodded; her smile now replaced with a somber expression.

“H-he” she cleared her throat “He convinced my mother that our marriage would be most advantageous. It’s not like she was going to disagree, she thought he was a perfect gentleman and had no reservations about giving her youngest daughter away to him. My father did what he could for me, but she wouldn’t listen.

“And now, I’m here. Some nine months later stuck in a terrible purgatory. He keeps trying to take away every little piece of who I am until I become this silent, obedient, perfect wife. Whenever I step out of the boundaries he set for me, he punishes me in some terrible way” she was holding back her tears and looking down at her lap.

“How?” Jughead asked softly, he was dreading the answer.

“Sometimes he just locks me in my rooms, sometimes he hits me, and other times he…” she could hardly get the words out, they hurt so much “He uh, he…touches me, and I don’t want him to”

Jughead was still for moment, trying to process what Betty just said.

Her husband _touches_ her, and she doesn’t want him to. Well that could have a lot of different meanings, not just what Jug was picturing – the worst case scenario.

“He rapes you?” Jughead whispered. Betty just nodded and blinked away the tears that were threatening to form, not wanting to seem weak. Jug pulled her close, he wanted to shield her from the world and its horrors, but how could he do that when she was putting herself in danger everyday by just being married to Chuck Clayton.

Her head was resting on his shoulder, and he was stroking her hair. But that didn’t change how angry he was.

This was on an entirely different level than when he heard about King Louis. He felt like a part of himself had been ripped off, because attacking Betty was by summation attacking him. She was his heart, something he couldn’t live without.

Betty felt oddly better after telling Jughead about how exactly her husband hurts her. She didn’t say it out loud to anyone because who would care? Why should anybody listen to a young duchess? And even if someone believed her, there wasn’t anything they could do to help her. This type of thing happened to so many other girls, and there was no crime for it in men of station. She hoped that someday things would change for all women, but she knew it wouldn’t be during her own lifetime.

“I’ll kill him for what he does to you, Betty” Jughead muttered darkly, staring out into the distance in front of him. He could almost see it, all the ways he was going to torture the Duke for ever even looking at Betty.

“Jug, no. Please don’t, you’ll get imprisoned or worse” she pleaded, looking into his eyes.

“That doesn’t matter, I don’t matter. Betty, I can’t let him hurt you like this” he said sadly.

“You do matter, Jug. You matter to me and to your friends, and you came here for diplomatic reasons, not to get yourself into trouble with French law” she ran a hand through his dark hair as she spoke.

She was right, he knew it. He couldn’t let his father down with this peace agreement and get himself thrown into prison with little to no possibility of his family negotiating his release.

But more importantly, what would happen to Betty?

She’d be a widow and depending on the circumstances in which Jug killed Chuck, people would think she put him up to it or he did it for her because they were lovers. He couldn’t leave her to face it all alone, he loved her too much to abandon her to a future maligned with scandal.

He didn’t know what to say that would convey all that, so he just said, “I love you, Betts”

“I love you too, Juggie” she said.

And somehow, those three words were enough.

***

They returned to the palace at dusk when the sky was a collage of bright orange, pink, and gold. After leaving their horses in the stables they walked up to the palace together, through the halls, and up to their chambers. To maintain the appearance of simple friendship they left a space between them as they went, side by side.

No one was in the hallway where their chambers were so seizing the chance, Jug grabbed Betty by her waist and kissed her. He walked her back until her back was against the wall as they continued to kiss. She had her arms wrapped around his neck and was holding him as close as she could to her. He captured her lower lip between his teeth and pulled slightly before letting go and resting his forehead against hers.

“What was that about?” Betty asked breathlessly but smiling broadly.

Jughead smiled back at her and touched the pad of his thumb to her bottom lip “I just wanted to”

He took her hands and led her into his chambers, where his friends were all waiting for him.

Jug forgot that they were supposed to be meeting today to discuss how they were going to get in the Kings apartments before he returned to court. He got so wrapped up in Betty’s company that it slipped his mind.

“It’s about time you showed up, where have you been all day?” Sweet Pea demanded curtly, his arms crossed and an annoyed expression on his face.

Kevin, however, had his hands on his hips and a small smile on his face. He was glad his two friends seemed to work out whatever disagreement they had, and finally put an end to his suffering of the silent pining after one another.

Or that’s what it looked like at least.

“I’m sorry I’m late, I forgot we were going to have this meeting” Jug sighed as he walked hand in hand with Betty into the room.

“Honestly Jug, what happened?” Fangs asked.

“I just-“

“It was my fault” Betty interrupted, letting go of Jug’s hand and clasping hers in front of her “I’m sorry, I didn’t know you all had things to talk about and I asked Jughead if he would join me on a ride”

“Betty, no” he muttered to her before looking at his friends “No it wasn’t her fault, it was mine alone”

“Can we just agree that it was both of you and move on, please” Joaquin said, he then looked at Betty and said “I don’t believe we’ve been formally introduced; I am Joaquin DeSantos, you already know Kevin Keller, that’s Fangs Fogarty, Sweet Pea”

She smiled sweetly at them all, “I’m so glad to meet you all, I am Elizabeth, Duchess of Thouars”

“You’re married to the entitled prick that called us Polaks” Sweet Pea said.

“Pea” Jug said harshly, he was not about to roll over and just permit people to insult **his** Betty like that, and it didn’t matter that Pea was one of his oldest friends.

Betty placed her hand on Jughead’s arm to calm him “It’s alright Jug, he’s within his rights”

She then turned her attention to the goliath of a man that was staring at her “I am married to Charles, but I promise you I do not condone what he said or share his opinions”

“Is that so?” Sweet Pea challenged “You don’t think us a cold, vindictive, people?”

A small smile, however uneasy, played on Betty’s lips “I think you a good and decent people. Rumors and gossip mean nothing to me”

Jug wrapped one of his arms around her, he was proud of her for holding her own against Sweet pea and his prying. She gave him a sweet smile and looked back at Sweet Pea, who was still as spiteful as ever. He couldn’t look past his prejudices against the French to see what a good person Betty really was, and it didn’t matter that Kevin and Jughead liked her. To him, she was just like every other stuck-up woman of station at this court and just wanted the attention the Polish Prince was giving her.

“So you aren’t using my Prince to make your dull life more exciting?” he demanded.

“No, I-“

“You don’t just want the attention being a royal’s mistress would give you?”

“That’s-“

“If you were accused of adultery, you’d just blame it all on Jughead, wouldn’t you? Just to save yourself? Say he assaulted you?”

“Sweet Pea” Jughead warned in a dangerously low tone of voice.

“Oh come now Jug, it’s so transparent. She’s just a bored nobleman’s wife that happened to catch your attention, you can’t seriously believe anything she tells you is truthful. She’ll sell you out to her husband in a heartbeat, and then we’d have more problems than just the King all because of her. But that’s just how the French are; arrogant, self-serving, not a shred of loyalty in their whole bodies. I thought you knew all this, but it seems this witch caught you in her snare” he growled.

“Enough” Betty exclaimed, she was fuming and had her eyes locked on Sweet Pea “You don’t know a thing about me, so how dare you assume that you do? You can’t just figure you know all there Is to know about me because of who my mother married me off to, or because of where I live. I don’t use people, that’s not who I am in the slightest and I hate that you think I could ever intentionally hurt people. I love Jughead, truly and without condition. I would never sacrifice him to protect myself, I’d rather it be me that takes the consequences than him because I can’t stand to see him hurt”

She took a few steps forward until she was toe to toe with Sweet Pea “You need to let go of your pointless preconceptions about other people that you don’t know. You don’t know their story, and you most certainly do not know mine”

She stepped away from Sweet Pea and went to Jughead’s waiting arms. He kissed her temple, and she wrapped her arms around his middle. He was unbelievably proud; she entered a battle of the wills with one of the toughest men he knew and came out on top. It showed how strong she was, and how far she was willing to go to protect the people she loved.

“Well, she showed you, Pea” Joaquin smirked.

“Cicho, jeśli wiesz, co jest dla ciebie dobre” Sweet Pea muttered, not wanting to meet Betty or Jughead’s eyes. Or anyone’s for that matter, he turned his gaze the floor across the room.

“As amusing as that was, Liz would you please excuse us? We have to talk about some, conditions Jughead’s father just sent us in a letter this morning for the Polish-French peace agreement” Kevin asked sweetly.

That was a complete lie and everyone in that room knew it, even Betty. Not that she knew a great deal about the pending agreement, but she did know what Jug had told her about his family and she knew when Kevin was lying to her. It was probably for the best that she didn’t try to insert herself in things that weren’t her business, and Jug would most likely tell her later on anyway.

“Of course” she said “It’s just, uh, I’m not supposed to be here and if anybody sees me coming out this room…”

“Then take the secret passageway” Fangs offered.

“Is there one that goes to my room?” Betty asked, unsure.

“There should be, which direction is it?” Fangs said.

Betty pointed with her thumb to the right and Fangs walked to the corresponding wall in the room. He walked along it with both his hands pressing against the wall and found nothing. That didn’t make sense, lots of palaces and castles, even manor homes had hidden passages. So either there wasn’t a passage on this side of the room or he just wasn’t seeing it

He only had one more idea before he ruled it out completely, so Fangs walked to the only sconce on the wall and pulled. It took a moment for it to give, clearly it’s been awhile since it was last used, and sure enough a part of the wall opened up to reveal a narrow, dark, passageway.

“Told you there would be a secret hallway” he joked, making Betty grin and roll her eyes.

Joaquin handed Betty a candle so she would be able to see, and she walked towards the doorway. Jughead was standing beside it and when she was close enough, she placed her free hand on his chest for moment and he covered it with his own.

She looked back only once to say, “It was very nice to meet you all” before walking through the entrance and into the passageway; Jughead shut the door behind her.

***

This day was nothing if not filled with surprises.

Toni, Veronica, and Cheryl were all waiting in her chamber when Betty found the door that would open to the room from the passage. When she first saw them, she gasped before her mind could really register who they were. She sighed a bit in relief when she saw it was her friends and not literally anyone else.

“What are you all doing in my room?” she asked as she walked to her desk to leave the candle which was no longer lit. She then faced them and wrapped her arms around herself, a pitiful attempt at recreating Jug’s warmth, love, and support, but it would have to do.

“What are you doing walking through walls into your room instead of using the door like a normal human being?” Toni countered, her arms crossed in front of her and looking expectantly at her friend.

Betty didn’t know how to explain her relationship with Jug to her friends, or if she even should. It’s not that she didn’t trust them, but if this was going to last secrecy was key; Jug’s friend Sweet Pea accused her of being his mistress, but one word from Jug and all of that would go out the window because Jug was his Prince. Plus, her friends would start asking questions if she told them, questions she wasn’t prepared to answer. On the other hand, if she told them they’d help her keep things a secret as best they could. They wouldn’t let rumors hurt her if they began.

They saw how uncomfortable and caught off guard she was, and Toni and Veronica exchanged a knowing look. They knew the only person Betty would sneak around for was Prince Forsythe. Cheryl didn’t know about Betty’s closeness to him, she didn’t even know Betty acknowledged his presence because Betty never told her. So she stood there, looking at Betty with a hand on her hip, fully expecting an very lengthy explanation.

“You were with him, weren’t you?” Toni asked.

Betty nodded, “We were out riding”

Toni looked slightly disappointed in her for her answer, but Cheryl piped up before she could scold her about putting herself in danger.

“Excuse me but who is the ‘him’ we’re talking about?” she demanded, not wanting to be in the dark for one moment longer.

“Lizzy recently formed a friendship with Prince Forsythe of Poland” Veronica explained, and Betty nodded in conformation.

“Liza, he can’t be worth the trouble this is going to eventually stir up” Toni cautioned.

Betty sighed and let her arms fall to her sides, she took a few steps toward her friends “He wouldn’t let anything happen to me, Toni”

“How can you be sure in that, in the man himself?” she pressed.

“He promised me, and I trust him” Betty said, resting a hand on her friend’s arm.

Veronica was watching Betty’s demeanor very carefully and saw how her expression changed when she talked about Jughead. There was a sparkle in her eye, her cheeks went pink slightly, and the edges of her lips curved upward in a smile very faintly.

“Has something happened between you two?” she asked.

Betty tried to laugh dismissively at what Veronica said, but it wasn’t at all convincing. They all stared right at her with demanding looks on their faces and Betty swallowed the lump in her throat.

“Well?” Veronica asked after a moment of uncomfortable silence, an eyebrow raised.

“Okay, fine I’ll tell you” Betty said “He wrote me a letter, there I said it” she raised her hands in surrender.

“And that’s all?” Veronica pressed.

“Yes, now can we please change the subject?” Betty huffed in frustration.

Unfortunately for her, they weren’t going to let it go that easy. Maybe if she were a better liar they would’ve believed her and dropped it.

But they didn’t, and she wasn’t.

“Not until we get the truth, Elizabeth; all of it” Cheryl said in her usual domineering tone.

Betty heaved a sigh; she knew wasn’t going to win this fight and none of her excuses would work. By summation, she had but one other option: coughing up the whole story.

“That was the truth, he wrote me a letter” Betty said as calmly as she could.

Okay, maybe she wasn’t ready to cough it up just yet.

“And what was in that letter that has you disappearing for all hours of the day, being so defensive around people you trust, sneaking around, keeping secrets, and protecting someone who is known to be dangerous?” Veronica persisted.

“He isn’t dangerous” Betty said immediately “There’s more to him than what people see on the surface”

“And you just proved my argument about protecting him” Veronica shot back.

Betty was out of answers and purposely going in circles wasn’t getting her anywhere, so she just stood there twisting her fingers together and an uncomfortable look on her face. She wanted to tell them, but they’d try to talk her out of it – whatever ‘it’ was, she wasn’t entirely sure where this going herself. All she knew for certain was that she loved him, couldn’t that just be enough?

She let out a heavy sigh, let her shoulders drop, and rested her bandaged hands on her hips. Still though, she said nothing.

“Lizzy, you should never be afraid to tell us anything. Everyone in this room loves you dearly and we want to help you, but you need to let us in order for that to happen” Veronica said gently, her face softening from its early pointed expression.

“I know, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to make you all feel as though I do not trust you” Betty said softly, looking at her friends.

“There’s nothing to be afraid of, Liz; it’s only us” Cheryl said, a small, affectionate, smile on her lips, which Betty returned.

All four girls went to the window seat and sat there together in silence. Her friends didn’t pressure her to speak, and she was grateful for it. Betty was about to tell them the entire story; about Jughead, about her husband, all of it.

She wasn’t going to do this halfway, if she was going to tell them she had a lover, they had to understand how he came to be her lover. And she couldn’t do that without giving them reason besides a very vague story of Charles’ torturous ways. It was also high time they knew as well, she opened up to Jughead after knowing him for two weeks; she’s known Toni most of her life, Cheryl for a few years, and Veronica for a few months.

So she explained, she told them the entire story of the days she spent with Jughead outside, the night he helped her after her husband threatened her, their first kiss, his declaration of love which she returned. She told them all of it. Of course, keeping some of the details for herself, since those would someday become beautiful memories she shared with a boy she loved with her entire heart.

Veronica had tears in her eyes when she finished her tale of love and was lightly fanning herself with her hand.

Betty smiled and laughed slightly the sight “Did my simple romance story effect you that much?” she joked.

“Oh shush, you” Veronica shot back, smiling, Cheryl squeezed one of her shoulders.

“I didn’t know he loved you so much” Toni said.

“I didn’t either, but I’m glad he told me” Betty said, smiling and blushing at the memory of that morning. The smile was short lived, however; it was time she told her friends the truth regarding her marriage.

“There is one more thing I need to tell you all” she started; her friends then looked at her with concern given her tone. Cheryl ticked her head to the side, encouraging her to continue.

“Cher, Veronica and Toni already know a very ambiguous version of this, but it’s about Charles” she said nervously “He’s been so cruel to me since the day we were married, he has these sick twisted games he forces me to play, and when I don’t, he has even worse punishments for me”

“What kind of punishments, Lizzy” Cheryl said, taking her sister in law’s hand. Even so, all three women must’ve had an idea about what she was talking about. They must’ve had an idea from the day each of them found out about his cruelty, but they would never force her to tell them.

“Sometimes he just threatens me or locks me up, other times he hits me, and sometimes he…” she let words drift off, they didn’t need to be explicitly said when the audience already knew.

They didn’t speak, they only looked at her, the shock clear on their faces and tears of sorrow in their eyes. It stayed that way for moment, just silence between all four of them; Toni reached over and grabbed one of Betty’s hands and gave it a light squeeze.

“Oh Lizzy” Veronica whispered sadly.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Cheryl asked.

“Because I knew you all would act out trying to protect me, and I couldn’t let you do that for me when there’s nothing to be done. And this is my burden to bear, not yours” she answered.

“I’m so sorry Elizabeth” Toni said, still holding her hand and Betty squeezed her friend’s hand. Strangely enough, none of them had noticed the bandages on her hands even when they touched them, but she explained why was wearing them when she told them about the previous night with Jughead.

“What can we do?” Veronica asked.

“What do you mean?”

Veronica’s anger was clear in her eyes “I mean what can we do to get rid of him, Liza. I won’t have you married to that fiend for one moment longer than it takes to send him to his grave and a fiery judgement”

“Veronica don’t worry about me, I have it all under control. It’s going to be okay” Betty said as soothingly as she could.

That was all there was to be said between them that night, on that particular topic at least.

***

After the door shut behind Betty, there was an intolerable silence behind him. that was never a good thing, so he turned to see his friends all staring at him.

Kevin had a smug, all knowing smirk on his face.

Fangs looked rather pleased, as far as his emotional depth went – which wasn’t very far at all.

Joaquin looked rather passive and straight-faced, but in a condescending way that showed he had questions that needed answers.

Sweet Pea looked like steam was going to start blowing out of his ears at any moment.

Jug heaved a sigh “Alright, let’s hear it”

They all started at the same time.

“I knew you two were more than friends…”

“She seemed nice…”

“How did you get a girl like that to tolerate you…”

“Her, Forsythe? Of all women you had to take up with her…”

“One at a time, please” he spoke above them.

Kevin’s previous smug smile changed into a truly joyful one “I take it you two could work things out after your disagreement?”

Jughead smiled and nodded, thinking about how much had changed for him in the past 24 hours alone. He had a girl that loved him, as she said, “truly and without condition”. She saw his brokenness and didn’t run, and he loved her all the more for it.

“So you are together, then?” Sweet Pea asked morosely.

“Yes Pea, we are” Jug said.

There was a brief moment of silence between them all before Sweet pea demanded, “Have you lost your sense?”

“What?” Jug said, annoyed by his friend’s prejudices against Betty.

“I just assumed you have lost your wits, because the Jughead I know would never let a French woman get close to him because he knows how egotistical they are” Sweet Pea spat

“Enough Pea, don’t insult Elizabeth like that. She isn’t like the other French people, she’s smart and kind, and the bravest person I’ve ever known” Jug said, trying to stay calm.

“My lord, it’s worse than I thought. How deep has that woman gotten her hooks into you?”

“Uniszać” Jug growled angrily “How dare you offend the woman I love in front of me like that”

“You love her?” Sweet Pea challenged, his tone showing he did not want to believe it.

“More than your small mind can comprehend, Sweet Pea. If you cannot except that, then leave my service and return to Poland” Jug said darkly. He looked his friend directly in eye as he spoke and held his gaze until Sweet Pea kneeled to him.

“I meant no disrespect, my Prince. Forgive me” he said.

“Stand up, Pea, there is no need for that” Jug said. The man rose from the floor but kept his head bowed.

Jug looked at his group of friends who were all standing around him, giving him their full attention. It was then an idea came to him, a way he could make sure Betty was safe when he himself couldn’t be there to protect her from her husband.

“There is something I must share with you all” he started quietly and took a breath “the Duke of Thouars cruelty doesn’t just extend to us. He is vastly worse to Elizabeth, in ways I haven’t the heart to describe to you all”

Kevin’s face filled with sadness, Joaquin’s brow creased in concern, Sweet Pea didn’t move, but Jug saw his eyelids flutter meaning he was registering what Jug said.

“What can we do?” Fangs asked in genuine worry.

“One of us will be with her to protect her at all times, I will not let that monster place a hand on her. We will do this until I can figure out a way to get rid of him” Jug explained.

“You mean to kill him?” Kevin said in a small voice.

“Kev, death would be too good for someone like him. But yes, the end result will be his end” Jug uttered sullenly.

And so it was agreed, Elizabeth, Duchess of Thouars would now have a permanent Polish bodyguard system.

***

The Poles spent most of their night discussing the latest turn of events regarding the French Kings and his pending return to court. Jug was sitting at his desk in his chambers and his friends surrounded him, giving him the information they’d acquired.

“We now have a specific date for the Kings return to court” Joaquin said.

“Well it is about time, we’ve been here two weeks. What is the date?” Jug asked.

“He is to arrive Friday afternoon, giving us four days to prepare for the peace agreement discussions”

Jug nodded, deep in thought, he tapped his two index fingers together as he thought.

“Alright” he said “That’s plenty of time to get into his apartments, and thanks to Kev we now know there are no guards stationed on the inside right now while he’s gone. All we have to worry about is the guards at the door”

“Have we ruled out going in through the windows?” Sweet Pea suggested.

“There’s no guarantee we wouldn’t be seen or heard, and we can’t find a way in. There’s too many uncertain variables” Fangs said.

Jug took a breath and stood up from his seat, “Let us sleep on this tonight and revisit it in the morning”

Fangs, Joaquin, and Kevin all went to the door and left the room, while Sweet Pea hung back. Jug looked at him and raised his eyebrows in question.

“What?” he asked.

“Do you know, something just came to me” Sweet Pea said.

“What’s that?” Jug said, wanting the conversation to be over so he could be alone.

“What are you going to do about Ewa?” the tall man said, a smirk on his face and a single eyebrow raised just slightly.

“What about Ewa? I never promised her anything” Jug scoffed.

“Possibly, but I’m fairly certain she thought your relationship meant something and you’d come back to her”

Jughead chuckled, that relationship didn’t mean a damn thing to him and he could not have been clearer about that to Ewa, but still she clung to him and he wasn’t going to push her attention away. It wasn’t his fault she misread the signs.

But that was before he had Betty. He didn’t want any woman other than her and that was final.

“Well that’s just too bad isn’t it” Jug said “Goodnight Sweets”

Sweet Pea nodded and left the room.

***

It was late, and Betty was lying in her bed trying to sleep, but sleep would not come to her. There was something on her mind that wouldn’t leave her alone.

What if Jug wanted something from her she wasn’t prepared to give because of all she’d been though?

Would he still love her if he knew she wasn’t comfortable to lay with him in that way?

She didn’t know what he expected from her as his lover, but she just couldn’t bring herself to imagine being touched by anyone because all she knew about love making was the forced, painful kind.

Toni brought that up earlier when the other girls had left the room, and now it plagued her thoughts.

_“Liza, what if he expects to sleep with you? What will you do? Would you be alright with that?” she said._

_“Toni, after everything that’s happened, I don’t know if I’ll ever be okay with letting someone touch me. But…he’ll understand, I know he will”_

Would he?

Even when she said it, she wasn’t entirely confident. Thankfully, Toni didn’t press her any further on the subject.

The sound of a door opening made her eyes shoot open, and she turned towards where the sound came from.

“Who’s there?” she said frantically as she turned in her bed to see who the intruder was.

It was Jughead coming through the passage.

When he noticed her alarm, he put his hands up to show he was no threat.

“Trouble sleeping?” he asked in a whisper, lowering his hands and shutting the passage door.

Betty smiled and sat all the way up in her bed “Yes actually”

He walked to her and sat opposite her on the bed. She could see him clearly now in the soft candlelight. His hair was messy as always, he was wearing his usual shirt and pants but did not wear his boots. She made no effort to cover herself with her blanket as a woman should do when a man was seeing her in a state of undress, she was comfortable enough with him to let him see her in her nightgown.

He reached for her hands, took them in his own, and pressed a kiss to them. He then opened her palms, which were now bear since she removed the bandages that were on them, and kissed the wounds there.

“Jug, I need you to know something” she said as her heart rate elevated while he continued to kiss her hand.

“What is it?” he asked before kissing heel of her right hand.

She stopped him by placing her free hand on his cheek, making him look at her.

“If your expecting to lay with me, then-“ she started, her worry and sadness clear in her eyes.

Jug placed both his hands on her cheeks and stopped her from finishing that particular sentiment.

“Betty, I don’t expect anything from you. If you don’t feel comfortable with being touched, now or for however long we live, then that’s it. I will never do anything to you against your will, and you should not feel like you have to do those things to keep me around”

“You mean that? You won’t tire of me and find someone more willing to let you in their bed while you wait for me?” she asked, almost desperately.

His heart ached seeing her like this, so unsure and afraid. But she never had to fear losing him, he wasn’t going anywhere.

“I could never tire of you, my Betts. And I will never leave you because others are more willing in that regard. I love you, Betty” he said softly, taking one of her hands and placing it over his heart so she could feel it’s rhythm.

“Do you feel that my love? It’s my heart, and it only beats for you”

She gazed at the hand over his heart and focused on its gentle beats for a moment before looking at him again. He ran his other hand tenderly through her soft curls, and she leaned forward to kiss him. He did the same.

“Will you stay with me tonight, Juggie?” she whispered, looking into his bright eyes.

He nodded and she drew her legs close to her so he could crawl across the bed and into the spot next to her. He tucked himself into the covers and laid down, then reaching to draw her close to him. She laid down as well and rested an arm across his middle and her head on his chest.

 _You have to tell her_ , he thought. He resolved, after much deliberation, to tell her about what he and his countrymen were going to do. He knew this was not the time or the place to have this conversation, but if he didn’t, he might ever not tell her and it’ll be too late when she finds out.

“Is everything alright, Jug?” she asked.

“Betts, my men and I…” he paused for a second and licked his lips.

“Yes?” she urged him on.

“We’re…going to try and…break into the King’s apartments before he returns to the palace so we can blackmail him during our negotiations” he said quickly, and squeezed his eyes shut, terrified of her reaction.

“What?” she whispered shouted and propped herself up on her elbow to look at him.

“I know, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner but here was never a great time and...god I’ve been such an idiot-“ he said frantically and covered his eyes with his hands.

“Jug” she interrupted softly “Jug, look at me, please?”

He moved his hands to rest on his stomach and opened his eyes, they were wide, pleading, and very scared.

“Let me help you” she said softly.

He was utterly stunned.

She wanted to help him extort the King of France?

“What? Betty if we get caught you’ll be named a traitor” he too was propped on his elbow “I can't ask you to betray your country for me”

She sighed and looked down, “I love my country Juggie, I do. But I am not a loyal subject of King Louis, after everything he’s done to France I cannot in good faith be such”

He placed a hand on her cheek, and she met his gaze.

“I want to do this, Jug. I’m not afraid” she said, looking into his eyes.

Instead of speaking, he moved onto his back again and brought her with him, resuming their earlier positions. He kissed the top of her head and held her close as her eyes grew heavy, and she slipped into sleep.

This beautiful, smart, witty, kind, brave girl was willing to betray her King and help his country. She wasn’t going to back down from this, he knew that instinctively; there was nothing he could do to stop her if she truly wanted to do this.

“I love you” he whispered as he kissed her forehead, before falling into his own deep sleep.

* * *

Cicho, jeśli wiesz, co jest dla ciebie dobre - Hush if you know what's good for you

Uniszać - silence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay!!! I did say fluff and I meant it.
> 
> This took me so long to pound out because...well...canon stripped me of all motivation. Ya feel me? So I declare all canon to be trash for the foreseeable future, not that it wasn't already bad, *cough* season three *cough*, and I'm taking a break from it for a while or maybe even stop all together, it's not doing me any favors to care about this show and it's shitty writing. With that, I'm gonna keep writing stories for you all, because that's fun for me; these are our characters and our own little universes where there is no character assassination and forcing of pairs with ZERO romantic chemistry.
> 
> Things have been going pretty slow so far, but the DRAMA is coming up soon and I can't wait for you to see it. We're gonna touch all the feels up in here! Get ready!

**Author's Note:**

> I present to you: late 17th century aristocratic Bughead
> 
> I worked hard to be historically accurate, like - looked up the kings at the time period I had in mind and what French duchies were in place - hard. Although, that wasn't really a chore since I'm a huge history nerd.
> 
> Fun fact: I am actually part Polish, that's why I had Jug be the prince of Poland. Poland need's some damn love and appreciation, y'all 🥺
> 
> I'm not sure how many chapters there are gonna be, I'll figure it out as I go depending on how long it takes me to get to where I want to be.
> 
> Please do comment, I long to know your thoughts on my writing, and kudos are also greatly appreciated.


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